Check out my SF story Preparations Are Made in the recent issue of World of Myth Magazine. Here's the link:
http://theworldofmyth.com/
Here's the story and a recap if you'd like to read it:
This ten part SF series has to do with the impact of
global warming on one family.
The story so far:
Episode 1 - At the Biodome
We met Quinn an engineer at a wind farm and his son
Matt on a field trip and learn about life in the year 2220.
Episode 2 - The Test
We met Karen and learn about Quinn and Karen's life
together.
Episode 3 - Millennium Microbial
We learned about Karen's job as a biochemist working
on improving the world's food supply.
Episode 4 - The History Center
Quinn kidnapped Matt on a field trip and went on the
run.
Episode 5 - The Hideout
Karen visited Quinn and Matt at their hideout and
made a big decision.
Preparations Are Made -
Episode #6
"Where the hell is
she?" Jerry Finkelstein thundered.
"She just called and said she was on her way,"
Jen told her boss as she cowered beneath his wrath. "She said she'd
forgotten a flash drive at home. She was working on an idea for the project all
last night."
Finkelstein seemed somewhat placated. "Well, that's
good then. You both need to step it up if we're going to get more funding."
"Yes, sir," Jen said, as Finkelstein stalked
away from her cubicle. Then he turned and pointed a threatening finger, "I
want a report emailed to me by the beginning of next week. Today's Wednesday,
so you'd better hurry up."
"Yes, sir. We will, sir," Jen said, but he
didn't hear. Finkelstein was already gone.
Whew, Jen
thought to herself, what a jerk. For
the next hour she worked on her computer. Her friend and project manager,
Karen, was late and Jen had lied to Finkelstein. She had no idea where Karen
was and now she was getting worried. She knew that Karen had a lot on her mind,
what with her husband and son, but it was unlike her to not stay in touch at
work.
Just a familiar face poked around the corner of her
cubicle and whispered, "Hi there."
Jen looked up. It was Karen but her immediate happiness
at seeing her friend was replaced by one of immediate concern. Karen's normally
calm and controlled demeanor was haggard and sleep deprived. "Oh, my god.
Karen what's going on? Where have you been?"
Karen put a finger to her lips and kept her voice low,
"Come with me. I'm not sure how much time I've got."
When Jen gave her a questioning look, Karen grabbed her
by the arm and said, "Come on. I've got something to tell you."
They hurried out of the cubicle area and down a long
hallway to the elevator bank where they went up five floors to the employee
break room. They each got a cup of tea from a vending machine and went to a table
alongside the wall, well out of the way of the dozen or so other employees
scattered about.
When they were settled, Jen gave her friend a questioning
look. "What gives? You look awful. Is something the matter with
Quinn?"
Karen took a nervous sip, leaned forward and said, "Promise
you won't tell anyone?"
"I promise."
Karen took a deep breath. "Well, you're right. It
has to do with Quinn but there's a lot more to it." She quickly filled her friend in about how
her husband Quinn had grown tired of seeing their son five your old Matt only
for a few hours a week during World Order approved visits. "Yesterday he
did something crazy. While they were on a field trip to the History Center he
kidnapped Matt. They eventually found a hideout in an abandoned office building
near the outskirts of the city.
"It's only a few miles from our apartment building.
I went there this morning and brought them supplies."
"My god, that's horrible. What are you going to
do?" Jen wanted desperately to give her friend a supportive hug, but the
World Order's surveillance cameras were everywhere, some working, most not. If
the cameras picked up two people hugging, a day was taken off both of their
lifelines. Showing affection in public was frowned upon in the year 2220.
"I'm going to go with them," Karen said.
"I made the decision this morning. They're my family and it would kill me
not to ever see them again."
"What? Do you realize what that means?" The
ramifications flew through Jen's mind. Karen had essentially signed her death warrant.
The World Order Security Police, WOSP, would eventually find them and when they
did if they didn't kill them right away, they'd use Karen and Quinn to make a
point; that point being: Don't Go Against the World Order. Then they'd be
executed for being a danger to society and that would be that.
"You know what'll happen if you get caught,"
Jen said, her voice shaking. "I'm so frightened for you,"
"Look," Karen tried to explain herself,
"The World Order only lets us live to be forty years old anyway. They try
to keep us in line by threatening to take days off our precious lifeline for
any stupid in fraction they can think of. I lost a day by running across the
street against a red light when there wasn't a vehicle even in sight. Quinn's
lost nearly two-hundred days."
In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Jen smiled,
"Well, he is a bit of a rebel."
Karen couldn't help but agree. She and her husband had
been married for six years and were very happy with each other. They were both
twenty six and loved being parents to five year old Matt, the only child the
World Order would let them have. The problem was, children were raised away
from their parents in a huge five story concrete dormitory called The Neighborhood.
Parents could only see their child once a week for four hours. The rest of the
child's time was spent being indoctrinated to the ways of the World Order.
But the longer they were together as a family, the more
both Karen and Quinn felt that being parents to Matt was the most important way
to spend their time in their short lives. Quinn was an engineer at the regional
solar energy facility and Karen worked as a lead Microbiologist at Millennium
Microbial. Seeing Matt for only four hours a week wasn't cutting it as far as
Karen and Quinn were concerned.
"So what are you going to do?"
Karen sadly shook her head. "I don't know."
Jen was shocked. Normally Karen never made a move without
thinking through all the details and possible consequences.
"You can't stay where you are now, right? The WOSP
will find you."
"I know." Karen checked the time on her phone.
"It's been about twenty-four hours since Quinn took Matt. The dorm called
me last night and reported him missing. I got mad at them and blamed the disappearance
on them."
Jen grinned. "Good move."
Karen nodded and agreed, "Yeah, I thought so. I know
they called the WOSP because I bumped into one of them this morning out on the
street when I was bringing some supplies to Quinn and Matt. He showed me an old
photo of both of them."
"That's not good."
"Right. I feel like the noose is tightening."
"On top of that, Finkelstein wants a report from us
on Monday."
"Why? I thought he didn't want anything to do with
us when he gave the project to our former team member." Karen used finger
quotes around 'team member' to show her distain for Randy who'd stabbed Karen
and Jen in the back and took credit for their project to help improve food
production to help stave off world hunger.
"Who knows. Maybe Finkelstein realized that he made
a mistake by listening to Randy and giving the project to him."
Karen laughed derisively, "It's only been a
day." Then she thought for a minute and said, "You know, our idea is
a good one."
"I know. Looking at that special gene and seeing if
we could splice it's DNA with..."
Karen put her finger to her lips, "Shhhh. You never
know who's listening."
But she smiled as she said it, though. If someone was
listening they'd be done for anyway. Nevertheless it felt good to be talking to
Jen. She loved her friendship with the woman she'd been working with for the
last six years and was going to miss her.
She changed the subject. "Here's my idea for our
project," she took out her laptop and started it up and showed the file to
Jen. "This is a good start and you can use this as a beginning. You can
flesh it out and show it to Finkelstein next Monday. I'll be long gone by then."
She paused and didn't have to elaborate because the near future was obvious.
Next Monday she would either be dead or free. Then she shook the thought from
her mind and continued, "He should like it. Maybe even give you a
raise."
Jen took a chance and patted the back of Karen's hand.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Then she switched gears. "Getting back to your predicament. I've
been thinking and I have an idea."
"Really?" Karen leaned forward, intrigued,
"Tell me."
And Jen did. When she was finished, Karen grinned and said,
"That's a great plan."
"I'm glad you like it," Jen smiled. "And
here's the best part. I'm coming with you."
"What?"
"Yeah, I've had it with this place. Plus, I can help
you take care of Matt."
"You know how dangerous this is?"
"I know." She took a nervous breath and let it
out. "I don't mind."
Karen could see that her friend was serious.
"Okay," she said. "If you're sure."
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"Okay, then, let's get busy. I want to cover our
tracks here and try to buy some time. First off, lets outline that
report."
It was around sunset
that evening that Karen returned to the hideout. She had Jen with her. They had
stopped at both of their apartments on the way to pick up the necessary
supplies they'd need to move on to the next phase to the plan.
"Here you go," Karen said to Quinn after giving
Matt a big hug. She set down her backpack and took out a couple of bottles.
"Quinn looked perplexed. "What's all this?"
Karen smiled and pointed at Jen, "Tell him. It's
your plan."
"I brought some bottles of dye. We can dye our hair
to help change our appearance."
"I brought some different clothes, too," Karen
added. "Hopefully we can get ourselves looking different so when we're out
on the street no one from the WOSP will recognize us." Quinn grinned at Karen, "Sounds like
you've been busy."
"We have. We'll leave tonight. Jen reminded me of
that electronics factory on the edge of the city. It's only five miles from
here and buses go there all the time. We'll change our appearance and take a
bus out there. Once we get off the bus we can cut across country to get beyond
the city limits. No one ever goes out there. Once we're out in the country,
we'll be safe."
In Quinn's mind the hazards popped up like a bad dream,
the main one getting caught by the WOSP. They'd definitely be looking for them
now and if they were caught they'd certainly be killed. But if they were
careful and used their brains, they could make it.
"It's a long way to go for Matt," Quinn said
crouching down and hugging his son. He looked the young boy in the eye. "Are
you up for it?"
"I am, Dad," Matt said. "It'll be an
adventure."
Karen looked at her little family, which now included Jen
and said, "Yes, it certainly will be."
A few hours later their hair was dyed black, Quinn's
beard was shaved off, and, in Matt's case, he was wearing a wig that Jen had
brought from her apartment. "He looks like a girl, now. Just in case they're
looking for a small boy, this will throw them off. Hopefully."
"Okay, then, we're ready," Karen said. She
looked at Jen. "You still sure about joining us?"
"I am."
Matt had taken a shine to the young woman. "I'm glad
she's coming. I like her."
Quinn looked at Karen. "All set?"
In Karen's mind flashed a scenario where Quinn had not
kidnapped their son and none of this had happened. Life would have gone on the
way it had been going; all the way up to their mandatory death by the World
Order before they reached the age of forty. Compared to what they were doing
now, to be honest, it was not much of a life. At least now she felt alive. Now
their family was all together. Now all they had to do was to evade the WOSP and
get out of the city and into the country to safety.
Karen hugged Quinn and gave him a quick kiss. "Time's
a wasting. Let's get going."
To Be Continued...
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