The Sudden Star (32 page)

"I wanted to talk to you about that," he answered. "We have to get out of here. It's going to get worse. Sooner or later even the police'll have to take sides, most of them owe something either to Rasselle or Echeverria. Miami'll sit across the bay and watch, and when this town is weak enough, they'll move in and that'll be it. I'm cutting my losses and going back to Lauderdale." He frowned. "You don't have anywhere to go now, do you?"

Aisha shook her head.

"Do you want to go back to René?"

She stared at his shadowed face, surprised. "I wish I could." She choked, and lowered her eyes. "I wish I hadn't left." She peered at him hopefully.

"They'll take you back. I was going to tell you today, before all of this." He waved an arm at the barred window. "Barron and Maudine want to go back to Canada, to Ontario. I can't say I blame them. You can travel with them if you like."

Maudine threw an arm over Takaishi's shoulders. "Werner! You mean it, don't you?"

Takaishi's mouth twisted into a half-smile. "Why not? We're closing out operations here."

"But we can't," Aisha said. "We don't have any papers, or—"

"Didn't you bring your jewels?" She nodded. "Then you don't need papers, believe me." She glanced at Simon, who scowled as he ate some sprouts. She turned back to Takaishi.

"How do you know," she said, "that they'll take me back?"

"I talked to them, over a radio. We have a code." He slapped one of his jacket pockets; it held a paperback book. "The code's based on
Great Expectations,
chapter titles, lines." He looked around the bookstore. "You know what really hurts, Aisha? Not being able to move my books out. I'll never be able to replace a lot of them." He chuckled bitterly. "I wish I'd moved them when I had a chance."

A machine gun chattered outside, closer this time. Takaishi stood up quickly. "Come on, we have to get out. We're going to go north, try to get to the boat basin, stay as close as you can."

They crept out of the store and into the street. To the east, near Collins Avenue, Aisha saw a pillar of smoke, flames at its base. Then she saw them.

A ragged mob was moving toward them from the north, filling the street. Aisha grabbed at Takaishi's sleeve. She froze. He spun around, pulling her with him, trying to go east. She heard screams and cries as the crowd came closer, brandishing sticks, shattering windows and rattling bars as it went. Takaishi began to run; she followed. Then she saw the second mob, also moving toward them, from the beaches. Terrified, she realized that the crazies were escaping from the beaches and from the makeshift shelters where the police usually kept them confined. She panted as she ran. The shouting of the mob behind them was deafening; they too had turned east. Something hit her leg, she stumbled and Takaishi grabbed her, pulling her upright.

They turned south, too late. People swept around them, one man striking at Aisha with a plank. She ducked, and pushed his arm aside. Farther back, she heard screams and curses as the two mobs met.

"Don't fight it!" Takaishi yelled above the noise. "Take it easy, and don't fall!" Bodies pressed around her as he spoke, carrying her south. She couldn't move, couldn't even raise her arms. She was swept along, her feet barely able to touch the ground. A sudden shift of bodies behind her propelled her against a young man next to her. He tripped and fell, dropping quickly out of sight. The mob pressed on. Takaishi was thrown against her; he clasped her hand.

"Stay with me," he shouted, his lips close to her ear. Dimly she noticed that Maudine and Simon were near him; she couldn't see Barron. People pushed ahead of them, filling the street and sidewalks. Takaishi pulled at her hand. She realized he was trying to maneuver, get to the edge of the mob.

The people ahead were moving more slowly. Aisha's ears hummed and buzzed, making the screams around her louder, then softer, distorting the sound. The voices were inside her, enticing her. The air shimmered. A fierce joy filled her; she wanted to run with them, smash the windows, burn the condos, seize the city. Her ears sang.

She heard shots. Two women in front of her fell, leaving a space. A block down the street, she saw an overturned bus. Someone was behind it, firing into the crowd. Those in front were slowing up still more, those behind her were still pressing ahead—she would be trampled. Someone screamed.

Aisha felt a sharp pull; it nearly yanked her arm from its socket. She lurched to the left, and was suddenly out of the crowd. Takaishi pulled her again; she stumbled forward. They were in a narrow side street. She leaned against a wall, exhausted. Others were swarming into the side street now; she caught a glimpse of Maudine. Her shoulder ached. "Come on," Takaishi said. She hurried after him, lifting leaden feet.

The side street led to the beach. She staggered onto the sand, gasping. Takaishi took her arm, more gently this time.

The beach was a ruin. Clots of people huddled near the remnants of campfires. Ragged tents and ramshackle lean-tos sagged on the soiled sand. Sandpipers scurried around refuse while gulls screeched overhead. In front of a nearby tent, a child, abandoned, sat crying; it reached out to Aisha with its skinny arms.

Maudine approached them, followed by Simon and Barron. A cut over Barron's left eye was bleeding; two red rivulets were drying on his cheek. Takaishi looked around quickly, then stepped over the abandoned child into the tent. He came out holding a plastic bottle. The child's cries were louder. "Water," Takaishi said. "We might need it."

Simon was peering at Barron's cut. The blond man waved him away. "What now?" he asked Takaishi.

Takaishi threw out a hand. "We go south," he said. Aisha looked down the beach, which stretched as far as she could see. Tall structures towered along the mottled white expanse, as if feeding from the ocean. Fences protecting the hotel beaches had been trampled into the ground. "We keep going," Takaishi went on, "until we can get off safely. We should be all right here. It looks like most of them made a break for the streets." Aisha heard the distant chatter of a machine gun.

"Why can't we try for the boat basin again?" Barron asked.

"That should be obvious," Takaishi replied. "We won't get through now. Things are getting bad faster than I thought they would. That area up there, and around the boat basin, is going to be the center of this war, we'll be safer farther down."

The blond man shrugged. "And we'd better start now," Takaishi said. "Sooner or later, the police may try to drive those people back here."

The sun, high overhead now, burned into Aisha's flesh, making her long to throw off her tunic and hurl herself into the ocean. Her lips were dry and cracked. Even the light, salty breezes blowing over the calm ocean did nothing to help, only stinging her skin with grains of sand. Far behind them, she could hear the whirring of a helicopter. Ahead, she saw a knot of people in rags, huddling together near the ocean's edge. Two men darted away from the others, splashing into the water, lifting their knees. They paddled out and were captured by the current. One disappeared under the aqua surface; the head of the other became a small round marker among the ripples.

"Down!" Takaishi shouted, throwing himself on the sand. Then Aisha heard the shots, barely audible above the helicopter's motor. She dived down, rolling against Maudine. The helicopter swooped, blowing sand into her eyes. She blinked, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Through the blurriness, she watched the metallic insect approach the people ahead. They fell, stumbling into the water, dropping on the sand. The helicopter circled around them, mowing them down. Another helicopter passed overhead; she watched its squat shadow retreat down the beach as it moved toward another group of people.

The helicopter hovered for a moment, then settled on the sand, blocking their view of the murdered people. The whirring subsided; the blades slowed, then stopped. Two men climbed out of the vehicle, then a third, a police officer. Aisha lay perfectly still, squinting over the sand. The man looked toward them for a moment, then followed the others. They disappeared around the side, and Aisha saw the rifle left carelessly behind on one of the seats.

She had barely registered the thought when Takaishi was on his feet, signaling quickly to Barron and Maudine. He had seen it too. Barron was moving toward the copter in a crouch, torso almost parallel to the ground. Maudine followed, with Takaishi close behind her. Aisha glanced uncertainly at Simon as she got up; he was squatting on the sand, one hand shading his eyes. When she turned back toward the helicopter, Barron was already inside, holding the rifle, his back to her. Maudine circled around the vehicle and began to fire with her revolver; Takaishi was shooting from the copter's rear. Barron raised the rifle and fired, turning rapidly as he swept the area beneath him.

Takaishi spun around, waving an arm to her. She ran to the copter, climbed in, and squeezed herself behind one of the seats. Simon followed, piling in next to her. Maudine and Takaishi climbed into the front. Barron started the engine and the machine shuddered, then lifted. Aisha saw the bodies of the three men on the beach, sprawled like crabs next to those they themselves had mowed down.

She was shaking. Her teeth chattered against each other. Her skin felt as though it were rippling like the surface of the water below. They swept over the buildings lining the beach. To the north, she saw fires burning; below them, looters snaked through the streets. Takaishi reached for the rifle still on Barron's lap, handing it to Maudine. Something whisked past Aisha, pocking the window next to her. She threw herself against Simon, peering out the window on his side.

The second helicopter was following them, whirring angrily. Maudine lifted the rifle, aimed carefully, and fired. The other helicopter dipped lower. Maudine fired again. The other vehicle was suddenly aflame. It fell, smashing into an apartment tower. Barron lifted their copter quickly.

They were moving west, toward Biscayne Bay. On the top of one tall building, Aisha saw men and women waiting helplessly near the rooftop pool; several floors beneath them, smoke billowed from the windows. They passed over a narrow waterway clotted with boats.

Then they were over the bay. More boats, tiny as toys, were fleeing. A stream of refugees crowded the causeway below, some with carts and rickshaws piled high with possessions. On the other side of the bay, tanks were already rolling toward the causeway; a few, brown battered slugs, were waiting at the entrance to Miami, waiting to roll, waiting for orders, waiting for rage to burn itself out.

Aisha sat on the floor, back against the wall, knees to her chin. Her muscles ached. She longed to stretch out her legs. She had dozed intermittently through the night, leaning against Maudine, only to be jolted awake by a shout or an accidental kick. People milled through the train station, crowding into every inch of space. A family pushed past her, stepping on her feet.

She had a headache again. She closed her eyes; the red glow in front of them persisted. Her stomach was as tight as a fist. She felt a hand on her arm. She opened her eyes. Takaishi stood in front of her, Barron beside him. "Get up," Takaishi said.

Aisha struggled to her feet, wincing in pain. Takaishi took her arm. "Did you get tickets?" she asked.

He nodded. "It wasn't easy. It took almost all your pearls to do it." They pushed through the crowds to the nearby gate. Two policemen watched as a conductor checked their tickets.

"Lucky for you," the conductor said as he handed the tickets back. "Half these souls'll never get out of here till the police vans come and take 'em to the orange groves. Enjoy your trip."

They went outside and pushed past the passengers on the platform. Takaishi peered at the tickets, looking for their car. Above them, people sat on top of the train, clinging to it, too poor to buy tickets allowing them inside. Armed guards stood in the entrances to each car, surveying the crowd. On another platform, a tall blond woman was boarding another train, followed by a man lugging a trunk and a woman with three suitcases.

"Here it is," Takaishi said. They waited as the guard checked the tickets. The man handed them back and waited, blocking the entrance. Takaishi fumbled in his pocket and removed two pearls, dropping them into the guard's outstretched hand. The guard grinned broadly and helped Aisha up the steps.

The narrow dark corridor smelled of sweat and urine. Takaishi squeezed past her and opened one of the small doors lining the left side of the corridor. "In here." She entered and settled on one of the worn blue seats near the window.

"Why, Werner," Maudine murmured as she sat down across from Aisha, "you got a first-class compartment. How nice."

"Everything else was taken," he replied. "And you might as well be comfortable, it's a long trip."

Simon sat next to Aisha. He was looking uneasily at Takaishi. "It's not going to be a long trip for me," he said quickly. "I'm getting off at Fort Lauderdale with you."

Takaishi raised an eyebrow. Barron, just entering the compartment, paused in the doorway. "I'm not going north," Simon went on.

Maudine said, "I think you are." Her revolver was out, pointed at Simon. "Put out your hands. Barron, take his knife." The blond man sat down quickly and pulled Simon's knife from his belt.

"What difference does it make to you where I go?" Simon said. "I'm wanted in New York. I can't go back there."

Takaishi smiled. His eyes were slits. "Let me put it this way, Doctor. It's fitting, that's really all I can say. Because of you, a lot of people are suffering now, in fact, because of you, we're all sitting on this train. Somehow, I think you should be sent back with Aisha. She wants to go, and you should go along. She has some very valuable jewelry on her. I'll leave it up to her whether or not she chooses to buy your way past the New York authorities or turn you over. Maybe she'll let you get to the farm, so René can make the decision. I’ll leave it up to her."