Bodies were thrown through the air with hellish force. Charred flesh smoldered, falling off the bones of fresh-made corpses. All sound was gone except for a persistent ringing. Stumbling, his body was numb. Palms finding pavement, he steadied himself, eyes open, yet only seeing the white light burned into his retinas. Choking on black smoke and reaching for her hand, his hearing returned, and the sound of the afflicted was horrendous. Explosions in the distance punctuated the crash of falling marble. Feeling around the immediate area for her body, his hand found hers, and the ash that had been her flesh fell from bone. Following the path from her hand to her chest, he felt no movement. Blinking rapidly to restore vision, the white light faded and was replaced by a bald, blackened face.
“Padma,” he whispered, cradling her smoldering head in his arms. The heat emanating from her burned his skin, yet it was nothing. He stroked what remained of her face, the charred flesh falling away.
“I love you, Padma. Please don’t leave me alone. I can’t do this without you.”
She was silent. He sat there rocking her. Her breathing diminished until it ceased, her heart too weak to beat again, leaving the burned shell of his former lover.
“Padma!” screamed Ansley, waking in the darkness of his bedroom, soaked in sweat and breathing heavily. He looked around before regaining sense of his surroundings. Moving to the edge of the bed, he held his head in his hands and tried to let the anxiety fade. The terrifying memory haunted his nights and unsettled his mornings. The booze kept the dreams at bay but never away. He only saw her as she was in those final moments, a charred corpse.
“Not Padma, silly. Anabelle.” The unexpected voice startled him. “Are you having a nightmare, honey?” She placed her hand on his back to comfort him. “Wow!” she exclaimed. “You’re drenched.”
Ansley tried to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Finding this impossible, he told Esther to draw the shades. Mid-morning light streamed into the room, revealing the figure of Anabelle Aster lying on her side with her head propped on her elbow, wrapped in the dark blue sheet. She was looking at him quizzically.
“Anabelle?” was all he could manage to say.
“Did you expect someone else? This Padma woman perhaps? You weren’t looking for Padma last night.”
Her constant perkiness and sheer strength of personality had always been what attracted Ansley to her. However in this moment, her company was unwanted and her presence shocking. He rubbed his eyes, trying to recall the previous night, and wondered how drunk he had gotten. It wasn’t the first time he had awoken next to Anabelle. It wasn’t even the twentieth, but he had given that up, as it never filled the void the way he hoped it would.
“No, of course not. I just had a bad dream. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“Come here, baby,” she said, raising the sheet to let him in. Her exposed nakedness confirmed his suspicions of what had occurred, and for the first time he noticed his own nakedness. Reluctantly, he crawled toward her, allowing her to enclose his body within the sheet, her warmth a comfort to him. “What did you dream about?” she asked in a whisper.
“It was nothing. A memory from the past.”
“I can make it better,” she said, pulling him closer. His hand found the curve of her hip. Feeling her lithe body, her form reminded him of Padma in a strange way. Overwhelmed by this notion, he embraced her fully and ran his fingers through her hair. Padma had had the most beautiful black hair, thick and wild. He opened himself to the intimacy he so longed for, kissing her neck softly. Padma had always smelled of lavender. He could taste its floral bitterness on his lips. His hands moved to her back, caressing the individual vertebrae with the tips of his fingers. She had loved to be massaged. He used to spend hours each night massaging her back and discussing their research.
He moved on top of her and their bodies became one. Opening his eyes, he drank deeply from her exotic, foreign beauty. Her almond shaped green eyes stared back at him, as if imploring him to action. But what action did she want? She seemed terrified. As he gazed at her face it melted, skin and flesh dripping off the bone, revealing the skull. “Why did you let this happen to me?” the skull spoke, its sickening mandible flapping as the exposed muscle burned away.
“What the hell!” He screamed, jumping away from her and falling off the bed, still attempting to scoot away even as he hit the floor. Anabelle, who appeared equally afraid, replaced the accusing skull of his dead lover. She looked at him with concern, her brown eyes glistening with tears.
“What’s going on, Ansley? You’re scaring me.”
“I don’t know,” he replied truthfully. “I just need a minute. Please excuse me.” He walked to the bathroom on the other side of the room and shut the door. Leaning over the sink, he looked at himself in the mirror. Dark circles encompassed his eyes, but the rest of his face was a ghastly white. He splashed cool water on himself to regain composure. Nightmares of Padma had haunted him for fifty years, but they had never manifested themselves in this manner. He truly believed he was making love to her, which made the hallucination that followed all the more disturbing. The doctors at the Institute had suggested that he be medicated for this condition, but he trusted nothing from them. Furthermore, it was inevitable as a mind reached the age that his had, it would be affected by multiple traumatic events. He emerged from the bathroom to find Anabelle standing at the foot of the bed, attempting to zip the back of her dress.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you, Ansley, but you are seriously fucked up,” she said, fear giving way to anger.
Walking over to her, he gently clutched her shoulder, feeling her body tense. “Let me help you with that,” he said, adopting a soothing tone. Ansley zipped her dress. “I don’t know what came over me, but I don’t want to be alone right now. Please allow me to make you breakfast.”
She remained motionless for a moment, before her body and demeanor loosened. Looking at his face and seeing the sincerity within, she sighed. “Ansley, you are damn lucky that I find you so interesting.”
Laughing to himself, Ansley walked her down the stairs to the personal kitchen area adjacent to the atrium.
“Sit here and I will make us a couple of café con leches. I have found that after a night of drinking this is what you need.” He was making an effort to be overly accommodating, as he felt bad for causing her to cry, particularly after sleeping with her.
“That would be nice,” she responded flatly.
“Good. Have you ever visited the Castilla-La Mancha region of Espialleros?”
“Of course I have. My father has many interests in the domed city of Lucentum. I’ve been there many times.”
“Well, my dear, you are in for a real treat then, because I assure you, the domes are the same no matter where they’re constructed, but you happen to be sitting at the table of a very old and experienced traveler who had the pleasure of visiting this region before we sterilized the world. Let me introduce you to the simple joy of Torrijas.”
“What is that?” she asked, crinkling her nose in excitement. Ansley was glad to see her mood soften.
“My dear, it is wonderful. It is bread soaked in milk, sugar, and egg, and fried in olive oil. It is completely decadent, and happens to be my other cure for a hangover. They take about two hours to prepare. Here is your café con leche.”
“Two hours?” she almost screamed. “I don’t have two hours to wait for French toast. I have to get to my boutique.”
“No worries. I prepared it a few days ago. I will have Esther heat it for us and we’ll have it in ten minutes. I assume you’d like a cigarette with your coffee?” He removed his cigarettes and tossed her one, along with the lighter. She lit it and passed the lighter back to him, allowing him to light his own. He sipped his coffee and surveyed her over the rim. Perhaps it was still his guilt over the events of the morning, but he felt a certain fleeting affection for her.
“We make an odd pair, don’t we?” he observed.
“What?” she replied with mock scorn. “A washed up scientist with a penchant for pissing off the government and a disgraced heiress, known more for high profile affairs than accomplishments? I suppose.”
They laughed together at this strange juxtaposition. Moments like this had become rare in Ansley’s life over the last fifty years and he allowed himself to enjoy the light banter. They talked and laughed and his dark thoughts were forgotten. He had devoted his life to his private endeavors for so long that it had been some time since he had opened himself to a new relationship. Perhaps it was his budding friendship with Arian that was driving this change, but looking across the table at Anabelle, he could imagine himself being with her.
“Your breakfast is ready, Ansley,” Esther’s voice interrupted, destroying the peaceful reverie.
“Ah,” said Ansley, walking to the warming console and watching as the two freshly heated dishes rose from within.
“Don’t forget to use the oven mitts,” again came Esther’s chiding voice. “The dishes are hot.” The drawers containing the mitts opened on her request. Ansley removed the mitts and grabbed the dishes from the warmer.
“Breakfast is served.” As he placed Anabelle’s portion before her, she seemed displeased.
“Is there a problem?” asked Ansley.
“I wouldn’t call it a problem,” she replied hesitantly.
“Then what is it?”
“My nanny always used to make a smiley face with the syrup,” she said with a straight face, before erupting into laughter.
“Come here,” he said, grabbing her by the hand and leading her to the couch in the atrium. She looked at him quizzically as he pulled her by the waist toward him and kissed her. For the first time, he truly made love to Anabelle, for her, as she was. Padma would never return. Ansley had loved her and he had lost her, but this was Anabelle Aster, and she was wonderful.
As the door closed behind her, Ansley was sad to see her go. He could still smell her in the atrium, her pungent scent hanging heavily in the air. He sat on the couch feeling happy for once. Perhaps there was still a reason after all these hard years to live and enjoy life. Were all of his plans worth it? Ansley’s light musings were interrupted as his qubit lit up with activity.
“An unknown caller is on your secure line, Professor,” Esther’s voice echoed through the atrium. Pulling out an earpiece from a drawer on the center table, Ansley connected it to his qubit.
“Let it through.”
“Professor, we need to meet. Manuel has been arrested along with his crew in the outer regions near Abilene. It was a new security team from Capitol City. They intercepted the shipment.”
“Do you know where they took them, Eddie?”
“No, but I’m working on it. Perhaps the detainment center down south. Our intelligence is incomplete, but I lost contact with Manny at the checkpoint. Local farmers informed us they saw an Imperial unit trap the caravan. They knew they were coming, Ansley.”
“Where are you, Eduardo? Are you safe?”
“Yes. I’m in the basement of the Devonshire.”
“Is it possible, Eddie? Could there have been echo information on that drive?”
“I don’t think so. I had it scrubbed by our best. It seems impossible that there could be any useable info on it.”
“I don’t like this. It seems wrong. Someone is sending us a message. We have a spy in our midst. We have to be careful.”
“Professor, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“It’s Richard. His health is failing fast and he’s requested you come to the caves. He’s not sure the task can be completed. We need you, Ansley.”
“Damn! It’s too soon. We aren’t ready. Give him the last of our nanocyte stores. We have to buy more time.”
“I’m afraid we don’t have time, Ansley. We must move forward with our plans.”
Ansley paused. Looking around the room, he considered the life he could have with Anabelle, allowing a moment to mourn for what could never be. He had chosen a path and good men had dedicated their lives to his cause, to him personally, and he would never abandon them. Resolute and with renewed fire, Ansley responded to Eduardo.
“Contact Jabari. It’s time we take Arian out of the dome.”
“We’ll need a few weeks to set it up,” responded Eduardo. “With this new tracking system on the Natural Born about to go into effect, things are getting pretty tight around here. People are afraid.”
“I understand, Eddie,” Ansley responded. “Take your time and be safe.”