Banishment

Buckley dared not go straight to Ramius. Instead, he went in search of Picket. According to Picket’s wife, he was out running on his favorite trail. This was perfect. Buckley took off running in the opposite direction, hoping to intercept Picket. He had run only about a mile when he saw Picket sprinting for a strong finish.

Buckley knew better than to disrupt someone on their run, so he waited until Picket reached him and turned around, and ran on Picket’s heels. Picket took this as a challenge and picked up his pace. But Buckley, being fifteen years younger and an active soldier, went screaming past Picket, despite his friend’s superb conditioning. After passing him, Buckley held a distance of about fifteen yards, prompting Picket to try to close the gap. But the gap wouldn’t close, and as the men reached the end of the run, Picket called out.

“You young bastard!”

Buckley laughed; it was a brief moment of levity before starting a difficult conversation. “What are you doing? Trying to kill me? Go run with your own kind!” Picket said jokingly. The two men slowed and began walking side by side.

“I shouldn’t be seen talking to you,” Buckley said, looking around to ensure that there was no one around.

“Why not? Am I too embarrassing?”

“I came here to find you. I need to tell you something, but you can’t mention to anyone where you heard it. I would prefer that you didn’t even tell Ramius.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Ramius is to be detained and held tomorrow morning.

Orders directly from Marco. He suspects that Ramius will flee to Eden and take many people with him.” Buckley continued, “Marco seems very worried about Ramius—obsessed, I would say.”

“Shit! This is bad. Tomorrow morning?”

“Yes. So, I have been thinking that maybe it would be good to leave tonight.”

“What? You too?”

“I don’t know. I mean, we would need to get a good lead. The squads that have been there now know the best way to get there, so we don’t have much of an advantage, except for time.”

“If we leave our families here, Marco will make sure they can’t leave; he’ll hold them hostage and use this against us.

That’s the first thing. The second thing is that they can send a whole army down there. We can’t defend against that,” Picket reasoned.

“I don’t know what the answer is. But you have to tell Ramius. He is the one at risk, so he needs to figure something out. I need to go. Don’t doubt what I’m saying. I was there with Zeus, Manfred, and Zach. It’s definite.”

“Okay, Buck. Thanks. Really.”

The men shook hands, and Buckley ran off as if on a daily jog, headed for home.

“Unbelievable!” spouted Ramius. “He’s clever. I’ll give him that. Paranoid little shit got this one right.” “What do you want to do?” asked Picket.

“I need to think about it.” But Ramius had already made up his mind what to do. “Pick, go tell the other guys. But tell them to keep it quiet; otherwise, Marco might come get me now. And I don’t want any of you coming back here. They might already be keeping watch. Got it?”

“Yah. Got it.”

When Picket went off in search of Johnny and Hook to break the bad news, Ramius immediately started to collect food and water for himself. He was leaving. Just then, Ana walked in smiling, intending to cheer him up, but she could see the tension in every fiber of his being.

“What happened?” she asked, immediately concerned.

Ramius took a long breath.

“Ya heard what he said, did’n ya?” Baggus called after Mr. Li as he walked away from their camp toward Victory. “Li! I ’gree wit’ ya. We’s jus’ wait’n heya, fa what? But’s gon’ be trouble you jus’ walkin’ in when dey said you’s outta Vict’ry.

Now git back heya! C’mon!”

But Li just kept walking. He held a righteous view of his intentions and felt very slighted when he was cast out— apparently, for good. Beyond Baggus’s pleading, there was no other intervention to get Li to stop. He was an extra person who didn’t relate well with any of them. They let him go. Li ran toward Victory, trying to assume the attitude and habits of a Victorian, as if this might somehow transform him in the eyes of others and earn him a new welcome into the fold. It was a fantasy, and he knew it. But he allowed himself to dream, ponder, and calculate. This was his gift—the ability to adapt and fill a critical need. With Saul gone, Marco had no further need for him. Li didn’t know what his new calling would be, but he was confident that he would find it.

“What should we do? Jus’ wait heya?” asked Lobo.

“Give Ramius anuddah couple days. If he ain’t back by den, we’s gon’ follow Li an’ head back ta Vict’ry. Okay?”

“Okay, Baggus. We’s okay heya fa couple days. Got food an’ water,” said Lobo supportively.

As they spoke, a medium-sized bird soared high overhead. It was the size of a hawk and looked like one, if you weren’t looking too carefully. The bird was on a straight-line course for Victory.

Baggus and Lobo took no notice. They carried on with their discussion and then moved onto chores in preparation for another night in the wild.

Saginaw coasted into a light headwind that provided good lift but made the journey slow going. Ramius was out in the woods not far from his home. He was still wearing the headset, anticipating Saginaw’s arrival, which would enable him to have eyes in the sky. It would still be a couple of hours, which was frustrating, but meanwhile, he had other matters to attend to.

He took the headset off, stashed it in his waste pack, and hurried back toward his house. But instead of going in, he turned and headed for town as the last sunlight faded into the night. His men awaited him at a point along the way—near the central park by the river—and they all walked together, determined and quiet.

Picket, Hook, Johnny, and their new addition, Harper, were joined together and willing to sacrifice everything for their beliefs. Ramius admired them, especially because of their loyalty to the cause despite their lack of knowledge regarding what lay below Eden. Ramius had pondered extensively the question of whether his own loyalty and courage, which put many at risk, would have equaled theirs if he’d had no knowledge of Eden’s secrets. He convinced himself that he would have been equally loyal and courageous, and he put any sense of guilt or hesitation behind him.

They walked right up to Marco’s compound. It was a fenced-off area with two points of entry, each of which was manned by two guards at all times. But the fence was only about shoulder-high and had various gaps, which allowed anyone to see in and observe what was happening.

The cave to the right was the base of a steep cliff, and it was basically a completely sheltered cavern that had been crafted into a large seating area. This was where the leaders conducted business, including council meetings. Near the cave entrance was an impressive-looking wooden house, which was the leader’s residence. The fenced-in section was a wellmaintained area comprising gardens, a pond, and other outdoor spaces with tables and chairs for entertaining.

Beside the house was another outbuilding, which was used primarily for cooking, food preparation, and storage.

Ramius and his men approached. They could see that Marco was entertaining and that a meal was being prepared.

“Okay, guys. This is it. I will go in alone. Your job is to make sure I don’t get arrested. I hope it doesn’t come to that,” declared Ramius grimly and determinedly. “I will talk some sense into him.”

Ramius looked up as he heard the unmistakable sounds of Saginaw hovering high overhead. The others looked up as well.

“That’s a strange bird,” said Johnny. “Never seen one like that.”

“I have,” said Ramius, and he stepped ahead of his men to approach the guards and seek entry. They asked him to wait, and one of them went in and whispered to Marco, who was in the middle of a conversation with his numerous guests. He flashed an angry look toward the gate and saw a stone-faced Ramius looking at him.

Caught off guard, he waved Ramius in and pointed to the cave. As Marco excused himself from his guests, the two men converged at the midpoint of the yard.

“What do you think you’re doing here, Ramius?” spat Marco angrily.

“I need to speak with you now.”

“I am becoming concerned about your behavior.”

“So I have heard.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Let’s just say that I felt it was important to speak to you tonight, as opposed to, say, tomorrow morning?”

Marco exhaled viciously as he searched his mind for an inkling of who might have betrayed him. “You think you know everything! Well you’re a risk to us all, and I don’t want to take any chances.”

“I don’t know everything, but I do know something. And I need to share that something with you.”

“What are you talking about?” questioned Marco with disdain. “I don’t need anything from you.”

“This is not about you and me. Everything is about to change. You need to understand.”

Dream used the panorama of cameras to analyze the timing so that she could determine when the men were looking away from Saginaw. This enabled the bird to dive silently and then coast into the cavern undetected. After darting into the large cavern of the cave, Saginaw hovered above the two men.

“What on bloody earth? What is that?” asked Marco, suddenly afraid. He knew that it had to be a bird, but something was off. Saginaw hovered above Ramius and dropped a small bag that it had been carrying in its clutches. Ramius caught the bag and removed its contents. It was another headset, and it was identical to the one that Ramius carried.

“Don’t be concerned Marco. Just try to observe and understand. There is no danger here.”

“What kind of crazy tricks …?” Marco quieted as Ramius pulled out his headset and put it on. “Now, Marco, you put this one just the way I have.

Quickly! I don’t want the others to see this.”

Something about the confidence that Ramius projected calmed Marco a little, although not much. His pulse was peaking, but he followed the instructions as if powerless to resist. Suddenly, a light came on, and he could see a perfectly clear image. He was seeing himself and Ramius from above. He moved his arm and turned his body, and he could see himself doing it. He looked up at the bird and realized that he was seeing what it saw.

“What? This is this madness, Ramius! What is this trickery?”

“No trickery,” answered Ramius. “This is our past. I have discovered our past. If it falls into the wrong hands, all will be lost. You must allow me to secure it. Otherwise, whatever befell our ancestors, causing us to build up again as nomads living off the land, will repeat itself. We will destroy each other again.”

“I don’t believe you. I don’t know how you’ve done it, but this is some kind of trick. I will figure it out.” Marco peeled off the headset.

“Put it back on,” commanded Ramius. “I need to introduce you to someone.”

“Who?”

“Her name is Dream.”

Marco took a long angry look at Ramius, but his curiosity was overpowering his anger with every passing instant.

He put the headset back on.

“Hello, Marco. My name is Dream.” Marco’s eyes were wide as he stared straight at Ramius. “Ramius has told me wonderful things about you … that you are a great leader and a wise man.”

“Well, thank you, uh … Dream. It’s ah … a pleasure.”

“I would like to invite you to visit and see what we have in Eden. You will find it very interesting, I’m sure. But while we are together now, let me show you this area.”

The image switched to high in the air. Marco was now looking down on Eden, the lake, the river, and then the mountains. He felt as if he himself was flying. He could hear the breeze as he swept down low through some trees and then shot out over the enormous lake.

The view changed, and suddenly, he was looking down upon an endless line of people making their way through a deep canyon. Wait. It was the minions, and there was Saul high atop his platform with a girl there beside him. Dream then zoomedout the image, which revealed a figure at the top of the canyon wall. He was pointing some kind of black spear. It was Ramius!

This was unmistakable!

Suddenly, Marco was seeing Saul again, perhaps from the perspective of Ramius, who was looking through some opening in the black spear. There was a loud cracking sound like thunder close by. Marco jumped, startled. There was Saul, disappearing into a vapor, leaving the girl there untouched, confused, and covered in red.

Then, Marco began flying along the river near the sunset. He could recognize everything, but he had never seen it from such a perspective. He swept down low near the river, and he could hear the water rushing. Finally, he rose above it, and there was Victory. Marco saw himself again, from just minutes earlier, talking to his guests. He slowly removed the headset. He was now dizzy and pale. No longer angry, he was only baffled as he had difficulty making sense of what he had just seen.

“I don’t understand it.”

“You will, Marco. But only you and I until we can figure out what to do. It’s very dangerous.”

“You!” Marco said to Ramius. “I knew you couldn’t have done what you said. The boulder … it was some kind of weapon.”

“There are many weapons of different kinds. This is the least frightening of them, I assure you.”

“If you go there, you are a threat to us, as you will have these weapons.”

“I am not a threat. No one, with the exception of myself and now you, is aware of any of this, and I mean for it to stay this way.”

“No! I won’t allow you to go back there! I will have these weapons seized.”

“You will never find the weapons. Only I can access the location. It is completely secure.”

“Then I only need to seize you!”

“Put on the headset!” commanded Ramius. Marco hesitated, but then he complied, unable to resist his curiosity once again. “Dream, no one is to ever have access to the shelter, except for me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ramius.”

“If you observe that I have been harmed or held against my will and prevented from going to Eden, you are to kill Marco as soon as possible without having to hear me give the order, even if I am dead. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Ramius.”

Marco stood speechless, not knowing what to say. He was suddenly terrified, realizing that he could be watched. He also did not know how his end might occur nor when.

“Do not stand in my way. I will leave here, and if you prefer, then we will never see each other again.” Ramius continued, “I will leave that headset with you, and I suggest you never allow anyone to see it. If you ever want to contact me, just put it on, ask for me, and then wait a while. I will be there.” “You and I are finished, Ramius,” declared Marco.

“Oh. Just now? I think you had that same thought long ago; only I wasn’t aware of it. But I don’t want any trouble with you. You can be sure that the orders I just gave will be executed just as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. Now … tonight, I expect to sleep peacefully in my bed. Tomorrow, I will wake up and gather up those close me and our families. We will leave here and never return. If I see any Victorian soldiers near Eden, I will come for you.”

“Then, go! You traitor! You are now the hero, but you will go down in history as the traitor.”

“You know how to reach me. When you calm yourself, I hope that we can restore some kind of relationship between us.”

“There was never anything to restore! Just go!” Marco threw the headset at Ramius. “I don’t want this foolish thing!”

Ramius picked it up, shook his head, and walked out.

Saginaw remained over Marco’s head, hovering ominously.

“Hey! Get it out of here, Ramius!”

But Ramius kept walking. He dropped the headset on a table near the gate just before exiting to join the members of his team, who anxiously awaited him just outside.

Saginaw hovered low. As it was so close, Marco could see its wings flapping rapidly and precisely, as well as small features moving on the body of the creature. He cowered and recoiled, fearing it was about to attack. Then, in an instant, it darted out of the cave, almost as if it had disappeared.

“What happened?” demanded Hook. They crowded in as they walked, trying to make sure they could hear Ramius’s response.

“We leave in the morning. Anyone who is going needs to be at the gathering point just after sunrise. Keep your excitement to yourself, don’t act any different from normal, and don’t take much with you. But do take weapons.”

“What did he bloody say? How did you ever convince him?” asked Johnny.

“I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”