The Tribes -- Chapter 14

An air of quiet anticipation filled the Queen Mary. During lunch Ryan had announced that the construction of the water treatment lagoons was finally finished and ready to go into operation. He found himself blushing when his announcement was greeted with applause and elated whistles. The other good news came from Sasha when he informed the Shiprats that the Market was ready to open the following day and that every stall had been promised out.

“Um, I don’t mean to be a wet blanket, “Selene said from her place behind the serving table,” but will it be safe. I mean Zoot and his Locos could show up.”

“He will show up,” Sasha said with a grin. “And, he’s promised safe passage to all the other Tribes and independents. Our only worry is Tribe Circus and Zoot’s promised to keep them in line.”

“Can he be trusted?” Heather asked.

“At least for tomorrow,” Sasha admitted. “I think he’s curious to see how this experiment turns out for one thing. And, he’s curious about this meeting of all Tribe leaders Bray has asked for.” Sasha shrugged. “So, for at least one day everything should be peaceful.”

“So Zoot and Top Hat and the other leaders are going to be meeting here on the ship?” Selene asked dubiously.

“At the ship, yes,” Bray said, standing. “But, not on the ship. We’ll have a giant tent pitched in the parking lot and hold the meeting there late tomorrow afternoon. We will, however, be feeding the leaders at the meeting."” Bray looked around the room, his face deadly serious. “We have to have this meeting to try to warn the other Tribes about The Leader and hopefully get some kind of mutual defense treaty.” He paused and looked around at his Tribemates. “I’ll be honest – unless some of the Tribes band together, and preferably all of them in The City – I think The Leader has a good chance of taking over The City one Tribe at a time.”

Bray found Jack at the Water Project site. The diminutive inventor was actually on the inside of the cinder block and concrete lagoons inspecting the out flow pipes leading to the sand and pebble filter tanks. Ryan had added a wooden catwalk running the length of each lagoon to make climbing to the top of each easier. Since each aboveground lagoon was eight feet deep, Jack needed a ladder to climb into each one. Sitting on the top of the wall, Bray watched with amusement as Jack clambered down into each lagoon to make his final inspections. Spotting Bray up on the wall, Jack grinned up in his direction.

“I can’t believe what a great job Ryan and everyone else did!” Jack exclaimed. He scrambled up the ladder and pointed to the parking lot. “Look, Ryan even managed to come up with a way to run the waste flow pipes underground so we don’t have the waste lagoon right next to the ship!”

“I know,” Bray replied with a bemused smile. “I helped dig up the asphalt you know.”

“Right, right,” Jack said absently.

Bray pointed to a wall about two-thirds of the way to the end of the empty lagoon, “What’s the purpose of that barrier?”

“That? Oh, that,” Jack looked at the wall as if seeing it for the first time. “The first stage purified water will flow over the top of that so that only water enters the filtration tanks – the raw sewage has a hundred and fifty yards to flow through the plants.”

“And the plants will really purify the water?” Bray asked.

“Sure – well, at least it will start the process,” Jack said. “And, it’s really an important part of the basic purification process. Once the water flows over that wall there, it will be filtered of all solids. Then, we open the lagoon outflow valves and the filtration inflow valves. The water percolates up through the sand and pebbles which trap even more impurities and flows over into the next lagoon.”

“And there are more plants in the next lagoon?” Bray asked.

“Exactly!” Jack grew excited that Bray seemed to actually understand the concept of the purification process. The truth was that Bray actually had very little idea of how the purification process worked, but he trusted Jack and was willing to be patient to see what happened.

Jack stood on the top of the wall muttering to himself for a few moments. “Got the water lilies ready to put in the lagoon … outflow valve closed … inflow valve closed … heh, obviously it’s closed, otherwise I’d have been up to my neck in shit…” Jack suddenly brightened. “We’re ready to go!” he announced.

“Okay, so what do we do first?” Bray asked.

“Um, it’s probably a good idea to get as many of the plants as possible into the lagoon first,” Jack decided. It’s going to be pretty rank around here once we open the inflow valve.”

With nearly the entire Tribe pitching in, it took less than an hour to get the water plants in place on the floor of the lagoon. Jack was the last one to climb the ladder to the catwalk, pulling the ladder up behind him. Eagerly rubbing his hands together, Jack asked Ryan to do the honors and open the inflow valve halfway. Grinning, Ryan hurried down from the catwalk and turned the valve.

At first, nothing happened except for a gurgling sound coming from the pipe. Everyone glanced over at Jack who was staring transfixed at the end of the pipe. Jack grinned as the gurgling intensified. Then, a foul smelling watery black flow began spilling from the pipe. Everyone covered their noses, protecting themselves from the stench.

“It’s working!” Jack exclaimed.

“What’s working?” Selene demanded. “You call pouring sewage from a pipe into an open pool ‘working’?”

“Exactly,” Jack said, his voice breaking in his excitement. “The first stage is to get the sewage into the lagoon so the plants can begin the first stage of cleaning out the contaminants.” He turned and faced the lagoon closest to the ship. “When the water finally gets to the last lagoon, it will be clean and pure.”

By the time Jordan returned to the ship, he felt dirty, sweaty, and tired. After witnessing the start of the water project, everyone had pitched in to raise the red and white striped circus style tent Bray and Sasha had found in the warehouse of a furniture store. Under normal circumstances, raising the large tent would have been a chore. But, the iron stakes had to be pounded through the parking lot’s asphalt first, which made the job even harder. Everyone who could swing the heavy sledgehammers took their turn pounding the stakes into place. With the stakes in place, it took everyone to raise the main tent poles that lifted the heavy canvas into place. When the tent was finally erected, Jordan thought the heavy work was done – but then the girls decided there were some additional touches that needed to be done to make it really impressive to their visitors.

Amber insisted on measuring the floor space in the tent and sending Bray, Lars, Sasha and Ryan off in the truck to find carpet to put down over the asphalt. Jordan figured he and the others would be able to take a break until the carpet team had returned. But, Selene made them strike the tent so she could add pennants from the Queen’s supply of flags to the three main posts. By the time the tent was lowered, the pennants added, and the tent was raised once more, the carpet crew had returned. Thankfully, the red indoor/outdoor carpet met with Amber’s favor – Jordan could easily imagine Amber insisting the carpet team keep returning for a different color carpet. Getting the carpet laid on the ground in the tent proved to be a chore and a half since each of the three main poles had to be lifted to get the carpet under them. After three hours of trial and error, the carpet was in place and Heather announced that since everyone was available, they should bring out the tables and chairs and set them up. It took another three hours to get the tables and chairs hauled out of the ship and set up just the way Heather wanted them.

Finally released from the work detail, Jordan happily headed back to his cabin for a well-deserved shower before supper. His clothes were wet with sweat, his skin felt clammy and grimy, his hair fell across his head in damp tendrils. The warm water provided by the solar heating system felt good beating down on Jordan, easing the aches from his muscles. By the time he stepped from the shower, Jordan felt almost refreshed and ready for another round of work. Padding barefoot out of the bathroom, Jordan heard Jordy knocking around in his room. Wrapping a robe around himself, Jordan went to investigate and found Jordy had pulled out almost all of his clothes from the closet.

“Whatcha doing?” Jordan asked in amusement.

“Trying to decide what I want to wear for tomorrow,” Jordy answered seriously.

“Good idea,” Jordan agreed. “That way you’ll have less to do tomorrow and more time to spend out at the Market. Sasha says he expects the clowns and entertainers to start arriving tonight. Wouldn’t want to miss any of that.”

Jordy grinned, happy that his namesake understood how important the Market day was going to be. Most of the combinations of T-shirts and shorts were rejected – Jordy didn’t want to be seen as just another little kid. Glancing over at the closet, Jordan noticed Jordy had a pair of tall riding boots and asked if the boots still fit him. Jordy’s answer was to grab the boots and pull them on. Grinning, Jordan told Jordy to get his clothes put away and then get a shower, adding that he had an errand to run. Jordan dressed quickly and ran his fingers through his damp hair while Jordy hurried to get his clothes put away. Before leaving the room, Jordan reminded his little roommate to be sure to use soap and wash everywhere.

Leaving their cabin, Jordan hunted down Selene and explained his idea to her. As he expected, she was able to provide him with exactly what he was looking for and offered a couple of additional ideas that he thought might please Jordy. By the time he got back to their cabin, Jordy was just stepping out of the shower. Jordan was surprised to find Jordy clean as a whistle from head to toe and eager to find out what Jordan had in mind for his outfit for the following day.

Jordan didn’t say anything; instead he went to the closet and selected a white pair of trousers, white shirt, and the riding boots. At first Jordy wasn’t at all impressed. The outfit was too plain, he complained. Then, Jordan produced the long strip of electric blue satin cloth, explaining that Jordy could wear it as a sash around his waist. Jordy’s bright blue eyes lit up as he imagined how he’d look with the knee high boots and vibrant sash around his waist. Then, Jordan added that should he want, Jordy could get his ear pierced after supper was cleared away. Jordy’s response was to shout with glee as he leapt into Jordan’s arms.

After extracting himself from Jordy’s hug, Jordan decided to finish cleaning up and shave. He didn’t have much to shave – just some fuzz on his chin and upper lip. The truth was he could go a little over a week between shaves. He had just finished lathering his face when Jordy appeared to brush his teeth. He’d already pulled on a pair of jeans and was still bare-chested as he carefully applied the toothpaste to his brush. Brushing his teeth furiously, Jordy watched Jordan intently as he scraped the razor over his face.

Jordan had finished shaving and was placing his razor back on the shelf below the mirror when Jordy, toothpaste dribbling down his chin, asked, “Um – is it okay if I use your razor?”

Jordan playfully rubbed Jordy’s chin, “You think your whiskers are showing?”

“I don’t mean for my face,” Jordy said.

“Ah, I understand,” Jordan replied, running his hand over the top of his roommate’s head. It had been almost a month since Jordy had his head shaved and his caramel colored hair was nearly a half-inch long. “You are getting kind of shaggy alright.” He took a washcloth and wiped the toothpaste from Jordy’s chin. “I was wondering if you were going to let your hair grow back.”

“You think I should?” Jordy seemed slightly dejected.

“Only if that’s what you want,” Jordan said. “Do you want to let your hair grow back?”

“Not really,” Jordy answered honestly. “I want to be like Lars – a warrior who protects other people.” He looked timidly up at Jordan. “Does that bother you?”

“I can’t think of a better role model,” Jordan said. “Lars is a good man.”

Amber found Bray on the Boat Deck staring out at the ocean. The late afternoon sun was shining brightly off the small waves.

“Jack’s left you all alone?” Amber asked with a grin.

“He’s out at the lagoon adding some kind of bacteria to the tank,” Bray laughed.

“Bacteria?”

“Yeah, Sasha found these fifty pound bags of the stuff in one of the warehouses he investigated,” Bray explained. “Jack claims this stuff is safe for humans and loves to eat solid waste. I think Jack is just impatient to see the other lagoons fill up and make sure his project really works.”

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’ll work,” Amber said with assurance. “But, that’s not the real reason he’s fooling around out there is it?”

“Huh?” Bray tried to look confused.

“Come on, you know Jack – once he’s got one of his projects working, he doesn’t bother with it anymore,” Amber said. “He already knows his purification project will work, so why’s he spending time out there now?”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Bray lied.

Amber grinned wisely, “One of the reasons I like you so much is because you’re such a terrible liar. You’re like Jack that way – neither one of you are comfortable telling a lie and it shows on your faces.” She looked Bray square in the eye. “Something’s got Jack bothered and I don’t think it’s the meeting tomorrow, either.”

“Okay, something is eating at him,” Bray admitted.

“Is everything okay between you two?” Amber asked, her voice full of concern.

“Yeah – thanks for asking,” Bray said, turning slightly red. “It’s a little strange telling someone else, but if anything Jack’s more intense and passionate when we’re alone lately.”

“And, that’s a problem?” Amber smiled. “He keeping you from getting your beauty sleep?”

Bray nodded his head, a troubled grin on his face, “Yeah, in a way it is.”

“Wish I had that problem,” Amber said.

“Normally, Jack is gentle and tender when we’re um, well you know,” Bray stammered. Amber nodded to show she understood. “He hates violence normally. But, you didn’t see him that first time we met. He saved my life, you know.” Bray took a deep breath and sighed. “You know that tear gas concoction he makes?”

“Yeah, what about it?” Amber asked.

“Well, he admitted to me later that it can be extremely toxic,” Bray said slowly. “He said anyone getting too big a lungful of that shit could die, or suffer permanent lung damage.”

“So why’d he risk using it that time?”

“He’d been spying on me the couple of days I was scouting around,” Bray said. “He said he saw me feed a stray cat and decided on the spot that I was probably a nice guy. He said when the gang attacked me, he felt he just had to do something and there were too many gangers for him to go up against alone. That’s why he hurried so fast to get me clear of the area.”

“Then, there was that time at the mall when he thought I had been hurt – he went wild. You weren’t there to see him go wild.” Bray shook his head at the memory. “Nine times out of ten, Jack will find a way to avoid a confrontation. But, that tenth time – he throws all caution to the winds and just wades in with no concern for himself.”

“Like when he went and broke Bruno loose?” Amber asked.

“Yeah – you know, I don’t think he really needed Bruno’s help to escape when those guards caught him in the alley,” Bray admitted. “I think in a strange way, Bruno probably saved them from serious injury.”

“But that’s in the past,” Amber pointed out. “What’s the problem now?”

“Jack doesn’t say a lot about The Leader,” Bray explained. “But, I know he’s obsessed by him and this Brotherhood. It bothers him that The Leader might be headed this way. Lately he’s been getting up when he thinks I’m asleep and going to his workshop, locking himself in. I think Jack’s been working on some kind of weapon.”

Jordan had brought a padded stool from the bar in the living room of the suite and sat it in front of the mirror. He showed Jordy a set of electric hair clippers. “I got these just in case you decided you wanted to keep the shaved look – your hair’s pretty long to just shave off with a safety razor without buzzing it down first and I don’t know how to use a straight razor like Lars can.”

Jordan lifted Jordy up onto the stool and carefully wrapped a towel around his roommate’s neck before plugging the clippers in. Jordy hooked his feet over the rungs of the stool and leaned back against Jordan’s chest, sighing contentedly.

Jordan ran his hand over Jordy’s hair surprised at how soft it was and started the clippers, “Ready?” he asked.

“Ready,” Jordy said with a trusting smile.

Jordan couldn’t help smiling back as he placed the humming clippers against his little roommate’s forehead and pulled them straight back, mowing a three-inch swath through Jordy’s caramel colored hair. Clumps of his short hair tumbled down onto his shoulders as Jordan made another pass over the top of Jordy’s head. It didn’t take long to buzz Jordy’s head down to stubble. Jordan ran his hand over Jordy’s head, brushing away the few stray hairs. Looking down at the towel, Jordan was surprised at how much hair was piled up on the towel. He was amazed at the sandpaper feel of the fuzz left behind by the clippers.

“Now the lather!” Jordy said excitedly.

“Hold on a second,” Jordan laughed. “I want to do this right.” He soaked a washcloth in hot water – well, as hot as the solar heater could get the water, wrung it out and wiped it all over Jordy’s buzzed head. Then, he filled his hand with foam and slowly began massaging it all over Jordy’s scalp. Wiping his hands clean, Jordan selected a new triple blade razor and tilted Jordy’s head forward, letting the boy rest his forehead in his hand.

Jordan gingerly placed the razor against the nape of Jordy’s neck and slowly drew it straight up to the crown of the lad’s head. Carefully rinsing the razor clean of foam and stubble in the sink, Jordan prepared for the next pass. He took his time, working slowly making pass after pass up the back of Jordy’s neck and head. Finished with the back of Jordy’s head, Jordan went to work on the top of his head.

Starting at the forehead, Jordan pulled the razor back towards the crown scraping straight furrows through the white foam. Jordy sat perfectly still, making the job easier for his friend. With Jordy’s cooperation, it wasn’t long before Jordan was working on the sides of Jordy’s head, removing the last of the shaving crème.

Wiping Jordy’s head clean with a damp washcloth, Jordan lightly ran his fingers over Jordy’s head looking for spots he might have missed on the first pass. Finding a couple spots of stubble he missed on the first pass, Jordan took the razor and carefully scraped each spot clean and smooth. As a finishing touch, Jordan put a few drops of peppermint oil on Jordy’s bare scalp and massaged the oil all over his roommate’s head for several minutes before wiping Jordy’s head with a cool, damp washcloth.

“Wow! That tingles,” Jordy giggled. “What is it?”

“Just oil of peppermint,” Jordan said. “It doesn’t burn does it?”

“Nah, just kind of tingles,” Jordy said. “It makes my head feel cool.”

“That’s what it’s supposed to do. Now, how about we go on up to the dining room and show you off?

Jordy was once again the center of attention when he proudly entered the dining room, most of the Tribe went out of their way to compliment him on how impressive he looked as well as run their hands over his smooth scalp. Lars went over to Jordan who was standing a little distance away and smiling happily at Jordy who was eating up all the attention.

“You did a great job for the first time,” Lars complimented him.

“It really wasn’t all that hard,” Jordan admitted. He tilted his head in Jordy’s direction. “Look at him – can you believe something so simple could make someone so happy?”

“It’s because his friends accept him for who he is,” Lars observed. “No one’s laughing at him. The ones who are laughing are joining him in happy laughter – they’re happy because he’s happy. Their acceptance of him validates who he is in his own mind.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s important,” Jordan said with a nod.

Amber found Bray sitting alone. She quickly went to join him. “Where’s Jack?”

“Jack? Oh, he’s busy with something,” Bray said evasively. Seeing the look of concern on Amber’s face, Bray quickly added, “It has nothing to do with what we talked about earlier. But, Jack wants to keep this project a surprise for everyone.” He took a forkful of food and tried to grin around a full mouth. “Trust me, this is gonna blow everyone away. I promised him I wouldn’t say anything to anyone, otherwise I’d tell you.”

Dal appeared and sank wearily into a chair opposite Bray and Amber; “Your roommate is a slave driver.”

“Dal knows what’s going on?” Amber asked.

“Well Dal has to, he’s helping Jack get everything set up,” Bray explained. He reached out and patted Amber’s hand. “Trust me, you’d hate to have this surprise ruined. Just wait until tomorrow, you’ll see I’m right.”

Coming back to their suite, Jordy immediately rushed into the bathroom to study his reflection in the mirror again. Jordan shook his head in amusement – ever since Selene had finished piercing Jordy’s ear, he took every opportunity to look at his reflection and admire the silver ball in the middle of his earlobe. When Jordy wasn’t staring at his reflection, he was absently playing with the ball stud. Jordan went into Jordy’s bedroom and pulled out a set of pajamas. Returning to the bathroom, Jordan oversaw the operation as Jordy washed his face and brushed his teeth. Handing Jordy the pajamas, Jordan urged him to hurry up so they could watch a movie before bedtime.

In the sitting room of the suite, Jordan carefully perused the small collection of DVD movies they had. He knew he’d have to choose carefully – Jordy would want to watch something scary or action-packed. And, Jordan had learned that movies like that weren’t always a good idea right before bed. Jordy tended to have nightmares. Jordan snorted softly; who didn’t have nightmares in this strange New World? He finally settled on a Benny Hill DVD collection – Benny Hill was one of his favorites and Jordy’s, too. It was funny in a way, the smaller kids couldn’t relate to some of the movies from the Old Days. Then, there were others that seemed to relate to their experiences. The little kids immediately related to any movie version of Oliver Twist, the musical version being among their favorites.

It was strange, Jordan reflected. The kids all saw Fagin as a kind of hero – a Tribe leader who provided food, protection and a place to sleep for his Tribe. And, even though they didn’t like the “Workhouse Tribe,” they had more dislike for Oliver’s grandfather – even thought he provided luxury for Oliver. It took a while before Jordan realized the younger kids couldn’t relate to what used to be called a normal family unit. To them, family meant a community living, working, and cooperating together for the mutual good of all. And that’s why they considered Fagin as the hero of the story.

Before taking his place on the floor, Jordy cast a longing glance over towards the bar. He looked so innocent and yet, he had such a lustful look in his eyes that Jordan couldn’t help laughing. He knew Jordy wanted to have a snack of cherry licorice whips with the movie. Laughing, Jordan told Jordy he could have ten whips and no more. Jordy’s face split into a wide smile as he raced behind the bar and helped himself to ten cherry whips. Moments later, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor munching on his candy and laughing hysterically as Benny leered at big-chested women and cast naughty glances at the camera.

Jordan periodically glanced down, smiling as Jordy yawned and did his best to fight going to sleep before the DVD ended. As usual, he didn’t make it. After about an hour, Jordy was curled up on the floor dead asleep. Jordan waited until the Benny Hill DVD was finished before picking Jordy up and carrying him to bed. He covered the sleeping boy lightly with the covers and made sure the three nightlights scattered around the room were working before quietly slipping from the room.

Pitch darkness terrified Jordy. If he woke up in the middle of the night to a totally dark room, he’d become hysterical with fear. Jordan wasn’t surprised – most people he knew had nightmares on a more regular basis than they did before The End Days. Some people called those times The Badness, The Lonely Time or Nightmare Days. Jordan knew it didn’t matter what those times were called. They were the cause of the terrors that invaded a sleeping mind. So, every night when he tucked Jordy into bed, Jordan made sure all three nightlights were burning.

Jordan didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when he was awakened by the squeak of the hinges on his bedroom door. Before, in the Old World, Jordan had been such a deep sleeper that he could have slept through anything. Since then, when survival depended on the ability to instantly come awake, he had been a light sleeper. He was awake instantly; his hand going for the billy club he kept hidden by the side of his bed. Then, he heard a sniff. Jordy was standing in the door.

“Can I sleep in here?” Jordy’s voice was small and tinged with fright. Even in the dark, Jordan could tell that the boy had been crying.

“Bad dreams?” Jordan asked, throwing back the covers on the bed.

“Uh huh.” Jordy was across the dark room in an instant and crawling under the covers, pulling himself close to Jordan.

“Want to talk about it?” Jordan asked, soothingly stroking Jordy’s bald head. Jordan timidly shook his head. “That’s okay – we all have bad dreams from time to time. Don’t let it worry you.” He wrapped his arms protectively around the boy and stayed awake until he was sure that Jordy had finally drifted back to sleep.

The following morning, the ship came to life earlier than normal. A sense of excited anticipation ran through the entire Tribe. Word of Jack’s secret surprise had spread through the Tribe – aside from Bray and Dal, no one other than Jack knew what the surprise was and none of them were willing to talk. Luke, Lucy and the entire farm community arrived early bringing presents of fresh eggs, homemade sausage, and bacon for the Shiprats. Selene outdid herself in the kitchen making her tastiest biscuits ever to go with the fresh food from the farm.

There were times when Amber thought Jack must have discovered a way to clone himself – he seemed to be everywhere. One moment he was climbing all over the Market booths checking on the strands of white popcorn lights that the roofs of each booth. Moments later, Jack was scurrying down one of the companionways with a length of cable slung over his shoulder. Then, he was in the kitchen replacing a circuit breaker that had shorted out, saving Selene from a nervous breakdown when the kitchen went black.

Jack wasn’t the only one busy; Sasha ate his breakfast on the run contenting himself with a sausage and egg sandwich as he hurried to meet the last of the traveling performers – some of whom had arrived before dawn. Neither Amber nor Heather could believe the variety of performers Sasha obviously knew. There were fire breathers, acrobats on stilts, jugglers, clowns, musicians, magicians, and dancers. Sasha moved smoothly among them, laughing and joking as he got them organized. Almost none of the traders had shown up and still the parking lot had taken on a carnival atmosphere.

By nine that morning, the traders started trickling in, clearly in awe at the sights that greeted them. They were also slightly suspicious of the Marketplace concept.

“So waz the deal?” A short, stocky teen calling himself Slats demanded of Heather.

“The deal is first come, first served,” Heather replied. “Whoever gets here first gets his or her choice of booths or carts.”

“Uh huh, waz it gonna cost me?” He demanded.

“Nothing,” Heather explained. “All we ask if that you offer fair trades and don’t try to cheat anybody.”

“You mean we gets to pick which one of them booths we wants, and we gets to keep ever’thing we trades fer,” Slats asked in confusion.

“That’s the deal,” Heather smiled.

“Doan make no sense,” came the reply. His companions urged Slats to shut his mouth and take advantage of a good thing as they tried to pull him towards one of the booths. “Nobody gives nuthin’ fer nuthin’” he protested.

Heather tried not to laugh out loud at his confusion. She understood his experiences in this New World. The group to which Slats belonged was hardly large enough to be considered a Tribe – they clearly lived a nomadic life scavenging for odds and ends that they could trade. Slats was used to being forced to give up the better part of their profits as protection. Suddenly, he was being offered a stall where he could set up his goods, trade all day long and not have to pay the protection extortion. Heather didn’t blame him for his suspicions.

And so it went, most of the small Tribes and individuals showing up to trade fully expected to have to pay some form of extortion – some even tried to slip Heather their tributes on the sly for protection. All were dumbstruck when she politely but forcefully refused. The parking lot began to fill with crowds browsing the stalls, haggling over trades, watching the fire breathers; clowns and acrobats with undisguised glee. Before long the air was filled with the odors of sausages being grilled. Luke and the Farm Tribe had brought a couple of grills with them and were busy cooking up their ample supply of sausage, fresh ears of corn and even roasting white and sweet potatoes.

Wandering through the crowds, Heather was astounded when she realized The Locos were already there, and had obviously been mingling with the throngs of people for quite a while. She had feared The Locos would deliberately cause problems just for the fun of seeing everyone in a panic. Zoot clearly intended to honor his word that the Market would be free of trouble. She decided to wander over to the large tent and see how things were going there.

Heather was surprised to find every Tribe – major and minor – in The City was represented. She easily recognized Zoot and several other Locos. She stared in open wonder at the representatives from the two all-girl Tribes – the Amazons and Valkyries. She wondered how any of those girls managed to move – all of them were wearing at least forty pounds of metal of one kind or another as armor or decorations. Thrill, the Amazon leader wore a chain mail dress that reached to below her knees. If she felt encumbered by the weight of her outfit, she certainly didn’t show it – she moved around the tent with ease.

Members of the Panther Tribe were easy to spot from the elaborate facial makeup all wore that represented various cats. Like the Panthers, members of the Raver Tribe wore heavy makeup – they had their shaved heads and faces painted a gunmetal gray. Heather doubted that anyone, despite the similarities in names, would mistake members of the Raven Tribe with the Ravers. The Ravens dyed their long, braided hair blue-black and had feathers elaborately woven through their hair and avoided the use of makeup.

Amber, acting as hostess, took Heather around and introduced her to the various Tribe reps. The reps were stiffly polite, but showed little actual friendliness. Looking around, Heather didn’t see any signs of Jack or Bray. Amber explained that Bray thought it best to let the various Tribe representatives spend some time together – he hoped being left to their own devices for a while would make them feel more relaxed. Looking around, Heather decided they should all be satisfied that this group wasn’t engaged in a riot.

Amber pointed out a shifty-eyed Tribe leader with a multicolored Mohawk and at least six rings in each ear. “That’s Skull – he used to be one of the Lieutenants of the Demon Dogs,” Amber explained. “He didn’t go with the Locos when Zoot took over the Tribe. Instead, he’s started his own Tribe called the Dogz.” Amber pointed to the Amazon Leader. “Thrill was telling me Skull has collected a pretty large number of Independents and cast offs from other Tribes and whether Zoot likes it or not, is getting the reputation of being a major player already.”

“I think you can be pretty sure Zoot doesn’t like it,” Heather said.

Luke, Lucy, and Ben came into the tent, looked around and made their way straight to Amber and Heather. Heather took the opportunity to once more thank the Farm Tribe for the gifts they had brought. Luke glanced around the tent and shook his head in disbelief.

“I never thought I’d ever be around most of this lot again,” he said. “Here I am about to sit down with them now.”

“The difference is that you’re about to join them as an equal,” Amber pointed out. “It doesn’t matter what size a Tribe is – this is a council of Tribe leaders and everyone has an equal voice at the table.”

“Bray said he’d be here in a few minutes,” Luke said, still looking around in wonder.

Bray entered the tent, dressed simply in a loose white shirt, black vest and black cargo pants tucked into tall boots. Slightly to his right was Jack dressed in a dark brown shirt and olive green pants that had been tucked into riding boots. Ryan and Jordan brought up the rear. Both were dressed simply in black cargo pants and tan long sleeved shirts. Seeing them all together, Amber was struck at just how short Jack was compared to the others. He barely came up to their shoulders.

Top Hat stared intently at Jack for a moment, then his eyes widened in wonder. He turned and whispered frantically into Zoot’s ear. Zoot turned his attention to Jack and studied him carefully. He raised an eyebrow as he made his appraisal of Jack before speaking softly, but emphatically to Top Hat. Jack saw that Top Hat recognized him, but managed to ignore the Tribe Circus leader.

Bray made his way through the crowd, stopping for a second with each Tribe leader to thank them for coming to the Council. He made sure not to spend too much time with any one leader. Reaching the head table, Bray raised his voice, asking everyone to please take a place at one of the tables so they could get started.

“First of all, I want to thank all of you one more time for coming here today,” Bray said, glancing around the assembled leaders with a friendly smile. “I hope this is just the first of many more Councils to come.”

“Yeah, why’s that,” Skull sneered from the far end of the table. “Gonna try to force rules on us?”

“No,” Bray said facing the Dogz leader. “We’re not asking that the Council imposes any rules on anyone. We hope with the Market and Council to get mutual cooperation among the Tribes is all.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna come to yer Market,” Skull said petulantly. “Maybe I’ll start my own.”

The other leaders watched Bray intently for his reaction. “That’s great,” he exclaimed happily, a genuine look of satisfaction on his face. “More Markets would be a good thing, not a bad one. You know your own territory much better than anyone else here. I’m sure any Market you set up would be better than the one here at meeting the needs of those living in your territories. “

The other leaders gave very slight nods of their heads – Bray had said the right thing. Each of them had fought – in some cases had fought bloody battles – to secure their territories and none were willing to have anyone else impose rules of any kind on them.

“The only purpose of this Council is to share information important to all of us here in The City,” Bray explained. “We have reason to believe that there is a serious threat to all of us.

The tent was immediately abuzz with grumbles and muttered comments. It took Bray a few minutes to regain control and begin explaining about The Leader and The Brotherhood of the Phoenix. He went into all the details available before introducing Ryan. Standing, Ryan haltingly described his ordeal wishing he were anywhere but in front of the assembled Tribe leaders. Speaking in formal settings made Ryan uncomfortable at the best of times, and reliving the events back in Pine Ridge. He described the things Tina had witnessed and how she had escaped. He stopped his narrative abruptly and sat down as the leaders exploded with questions – most of them hinting that his accounts were at the least slightly exaggerated.

Jordan stood next and described the events in Hopkins. He tried to avoid explicit details – most of them were just too intense for him to relive again. Scottie’s screams as he kicked and writhed on the iron pole still haunted him. Jordan hoped he’d never again hear anyone make such horrible sounds. Even when the blood had started pouring from Scottie’s mouth, he managed to scream for a little while longer. The screams had a liquid, watery sound to them before they suddenly stopped. Jordan knew Scottie was dead, but his toes twitched every once in a while for nearly an hour. Jordan chose to simply say that The Leader had impaled the two Hopkins Tribe leaders.

Luke followed Jordan, confirming Jordan’s description of how bad Brandon’s condition had been when he arrived at the farm. When questioned, he admitted that neither he nor anyone else from the farm had actually witnessed The Brotherhood in action. But, he tried to stress that he had seen the effects of their work and that was good enough for him.

Selene slipped into the ship’s hospital, apologizing to Brandon for not getting his breakfast tray cleared away sooner.

“No problem, you’ve probably got your hands full out there,” he said. “How’s it going?”

“Don’t ask,” Selene frowned. “Things are pretty good at the Market, but the Council isn’t going too well last time I poked my head in there to check on the food.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Most of the leaders don’t believe the stories about The Leader,” she said. “I’m worried they might not agree to work together if he shows up here.”

Brandon changed the subject as Selene changed the water in the carafe by his bedside before bustling out of the room. He waited until the door was closed and he figured she was pretty far along the corridor before levering himself up from the bed. He was breathing heavily and wincing in pain as he carefully swung his right leg from the bed. The plaster case Jack had applied to his broken knee was heavier than he expected.

Sliding from the bed, Brandon tested his weight on his leg cringing slightly. It hurt to put weight on his cast leg, but the pain wasn’t unbearable. Making his way across the room, Brandon found his clothes in a wall locker. He was forced to rip the seam along the right leg of his pants in order to get them on. He used some surgical tape to hold the pant leg together – he didn’t want it flapping as he walked. Once fully dressed and sweating heavily, Brandon limped to the mirror and studied his reflection.

His first reaction was to recoil in horror. He hadn’t seen himself since that first day back in the high school. He had forgotten how badly his face had been damaged. Jack had done the best he could, but Brandon realized it would have taken a real top-notch plastic surgeon to even begin to repair his mauled face. Pulling the bandage that still covered his left eye, Brandon gasped again. He had suspected he had lost the sight in his left eye and the removal of the bandage confirmed it. But, what was worse was the way the dead eye looked – it had turned a sickly milky white. A deep, puckered purple scar bisected his eye from forehead to chin making his eye seem like it was slightly lower than his right eye. Large, jagged puckered scars criss crossed the left side of his face leading to the stump of his missing left ear. The keloid scars where his lip had been chewed had twisted the corner of his mouth, leaving some of his lower teeth exposed. Somehow, Jack had managed to save Brandon’s nose. But it was pulled up on the right side where the scars had drawn the skin tight.

Breathing heavily from the exertion, Brandon pulled a fresh bed sheet from the cabinet and wound it around his head like a Bedouin headdress, leaving only his good eye exposed.

In the tent, Bray was feeling helpless and frustrated. The Tribe leaders were refusing to accept that The Leader could pose a threat to them or to The City. Each was positive that he or she could either easily defeat The Leader’s followers in a direct confrontation or through guerilla tactics in a war of attrition.

Zoot stood, “Look, I’m sure Bray and his Shiprats thought they were doing something good,” he looked towards the head table with a slight sneer. “But, there’s no evidence this Leader is even interested in coming here…”

“You’re wrong,” Jack said softly but firmly as he stood up. “He is headed here. Sooner or later The Leader and his followers will come to The City and that’s a fact.”

The tent erupted in loud babbling again as the Tribe leaders tried to shout Jack down, but he remained on his feet patiently waiting for their shouts to die down.

“None of you are thinking this through logically and rationally,” Jack said evenly, his voice only slightly raised so everyone could hear him. The Tribe leaders were forced to stop speaking in order to hear him. “You’ve heard from Ryan, Jordan, and Luke – you have enough evidence to start drawing logical conclusions and you just haven’t taken the time to think things through.”

You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Skull sneered.

“The Leader is headed here,” Jack repeated. “That’s a fact and you can’t escape it.”

“How do you know?” Thrill asked. Amazingly, she seemed interested to actually hear Jack’s line of reasoning.

“Because The Leader is a megalomaniac,” Jack said. “He wants power and glory for himself. That’s why he’s building a huge army of followers. He knows he’s bigger and better than anyone else, and he wants everyone else to know that. He’s not content to be a big fish in a small pond. He has to be the biggest fish in the whole ocean. To do that, he has to come to The City and conquer it.”

“The shrimp makes sense,” Thrill said, nodding her agreement with Jack’s reasoning. “What else have you concluded?”

Jack favored Thrill with a small smile, ignoring the shrimp remark, and a tilt of his head in thanks; “He’s going to get more and more violent as time goes on.” He held up his hands as the Tribe leaders started muttering again. “The evidence is already there,” Jack said. “We don’t have accounts of every town he’s attacked, but what we do have shows that each attack gets more and more violent. Working backwards, we can pretty much figure out his pattern from the beginning.” Jack paused and looked around. He had the attention of the Tribe leaders, but he could tell from their expressions that few of them were convinced he was right.

“In the beginning, The Leader probably started with just one person, or maybe a small group,” Jack continued. “Then, he moved to small Tribes – probably using a carrot and stick approach. Join the Brotherhood and live happily ever after, don’t join and get castrated and be a slave. At some point – and it was probably pretty early on – The Leader increased his level of violence to frighten both new recruits and the old hands. That’s how The Leader keeps his followers in line – he makes sure they’re afraid of what will happen if they try to cross him. Then, The Leader found someone else who enjoys violence and depravity as much as he does, maybe even more.”

“How do you know that?” Thrill asked. She actually seemed interested in what Jack had to say.

“From what Tina described to Ryan, and from what Jordan described,” Jack said. “The Leader and his lieutenants sit back and watch while the guy in the red robe actually performs the torture.” Thrill nodded. She was getting impressed with the small guy with orange-red hair.

A Valkyerie, her bleached white hair in long braids than reached to her metal clad breasts, stood, “Maybe this Leader person isn’t really into all that torture and violence.” She looked around. “Maybe he just had to use those tactics to survive in the beginning.”

“No, from what everyone has said, he watches everything intently,” Jack said, shaking his head. “Everyone says he laughs as the torture progresses.” Jack paused and took a deep breath. “We know for a fact what he’s done in the recent past from accounts of those who managed to escape. We can also pretty accurately work out what he did in the beginning.”

“Meaning?” Zoot asked.

“Meaning we can pretty much predict what he’s going to do in the future,” Jack replied.

“And what is he going to do?” Thrill asked.

“He’s going to grow more and more violent,” Jack said flatly. “The depravity of the tortures he has his followers inflict on his victims will increase in magnitude. The tortures will become more painful, bloodier, and last longer. Eventually, he’ll stop trying to convert his prisoners and kill them all – either one at a time, or in small groups. He might even find a way to do it all at once in an orgy of blood.

“It’s probable that The Leader will begin using large-scale torture as a form of entertainment for his troops,” Jack explained. “Entertainment like that would get his followers more used to seeing things like that – they’ll become insensitive to the pain of others and the sight of blood outside of battle. At the same time, those blood sports will remind any dissidents in the group what their fate will be if they openly cross The Leader in any way. He probably punishes anyone who tries to escape.”

“That’s just bullshit!” Skull spat, standing. “This geek don’t know what he’s talking about. He’s just making up bogeyman stories to scare people. He and his Tribe are pulling some kind of scam!”

“Shut up you idiot,” a voice from the front of the tent cracked like a whip.

Every head turned to see the new speaker. Only Brandon’s right eye was visible from under his makeshift headdress as he stared balefully around the tent. Gasping for breath, he limped heavily to the head table, refusing the seat Bray quickly offered him.

“Jack’s got The Leader figured out pretty much exactly right,” Brandon said, his voice slightly muffled under his headdress. “The Leader is smart and bloodthirsty. If you don’t prepare for him now, you’ll all be dead.”

“Says you,” Skull snarled, still smarting from being called an idiot.

“The Leader’s men will infiltrate an area and attack in overwhelming numbers,” Brandon said, ignoring Skull. “He’ll take one Tribe at a time – at least at first he will. Any fight you try to put up will be crushed even before it can really begin because they’ll be ready and you won’t. Your Tribes will be rounded up and the Tribe leaders – meaning all of you – will be tortured for his entertainment and then killed.”

“Ohhhh, what a scary story,” Skull sneered. He stood again and looked around at the others contemptuously. “Can’t any of you see this is all some kind of put up job? They make up stories to scare us and now, this loser hides his face to try to scare us even more. Well, I’m not scared, Mr. Boogerman!”

Brandon pulled the sheet from his head and let it drop to the floor, revealing his mauled face. He limped heavily to stand toe to toe with Skull, pushing his face close to Skull’s and turning his head from side to side.

“If you not afraid, then you’re even more stupid than you look and sound,” Brandon growled. He slowly made his way around the tables letting all the Tribe leaders get a good look at him. “Take a long hard look,” Brandon said. “This is your fate – IF you’re lucky to have someone like Jordan over there brave enough to come back to save your life, that is. That’s assuming someone is lucky enough to escape in the first place.”

Brandon made his way back to the head table and leaned on it, breathing heavily. He shook off Jack’s attempt to make him sit and rest, shaking his head, saying, “They have to know.”

Looking up again, a wicked smile crossed Brandon’s ruined face, “And guys, The Leader has something special in store for you – he’ll begin by having your nuts chopped off.” Brandon nodded his head slowly, ominously, “Yeah – you’ll be stripped naked in front of your Tribe. You’ll be stretched out and his chief torturer will wrap wire bands around your nuts. Then, CHOP! Off they’ll come, and there’s not one fucking thing you’ll be able to do about it.” He swiveled his head from Tribe leader to Tribe leader, his right eyebrow raised. “Oh yeah, he did it to me. He’ll do it to each and every one of you, too.”

“Okay, say we believe everything said here,” Zoot said slowly. “What do we do? Are we supposed to hide out or do we just pack up and run?”

“Maybe you should stop listening to idiots,” Brandon said indicating Skull, “ and start listening to the Shiprats.”

“Maybe that makes sense,” Thrill said. “There’s no harm listening.”

“Yeah, but what are we supposed to do?” Zoot asked again. “I don’t really think any of us want to turn our Tribes over to someone else.”

“That’s not what we want,” Bray said quickly. “All we’re asking is that we all cooperate and work together for our mutual protection.” He turned to face Zoot. “We don’t want to tell you how to run the Locos, and we certainly don’t want any of your territory. The same goes for the Amazons and Valkyeries and all the rest of the Tribes. All we want is to live in peace with everyone.”

Skull jumped up again, sending his chair skidding back, “Ooooo, we just want to live in peace,” he sneered. “What a bunch of pansies!” He turned and faced the other Tribe leaders. “Instead of listening to these pansies, we need to just go find this Leader and either stomp his ass or just cut a deal with him.”

Brandon shook his head in disbelief, “You’re really a Tribe leader? I can’t believe it – your Tribe must be desperate and stupid.”

“I’m sick and tired of you saying I’m stupid,” Skull snarled. “I oughta kick your ass.”

“Go ahead, give it a try,” Brandon said, his voice suddenly cold and dangerous. “I’ve got a broken knee, had half my face chewed off, and I’m still feeling half dead.” He smiled, an ugly menacing smile. “Even with all that, I’ll grind you into a grease spot right here.”

Skull stood flabbergasted, he hadn’t expected Brandon to offer a counterchallenge. He was a bully at heart who was used to having people cower at his threats. He looked around in a rage, his mouth opening and closing silently in anger.

“You know,” Zoot drawled smoothly, a wry smile on his face. “I do believe the man is serious.” He eyed Brandon critically. “And, I do believe he’s capable of doing exactly as he says.” Over his shoulder he addressed Skull. “Try not to show the world how stupid you are and sit down and shut up.”

For a moment Skull remained motionless, then with a cry of rage he charged toward the head table. Jack was on his feet instantly, swinging his chair up over his shoulder like a baseball bat. Ryan was on his feet, fists clenched. Bray moved up ahead of Brandon who was showing no emotion at all. Their preparation was unnecessary though. Skull never made it to the head table.

He had barely passed Zoot when the Loco leader was on his feet swinging his right hand in a short arc as he brought a sap down on Skull’s head just behind his ear. Skull’s eyes rolled up in his head as he went down face first. He stared down at Skull for a moment shaking his head in disgust.

He weighed the sap in his hand before looking up and smiling, “Just something I never leave home without,” he said conversationally. “You never know when it’s gonna come in handy.” He put two fingers in his mouth and gave three shrill whistles. Four Loco guards appeared at the tent flaps, ready for trouble. Zoot pointed down at Skull’s limp form. “Take this trash back to the Inferno. And, be discrete – no reason to ruin everyone’s day.”

Zoot watched as his guards lifted Skull from the floor and quietly carried him away. Tucking the sap away, Zoot went over to Brandon and extended his hand.

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” Brandon said.

“My pleasure,” Zoot grinned. “Skull was a disaster looking for a place to happen.” Zoot turned to Jack who still had his chair held ready. Zoot leaned forward and lowered his voice, “You can lower the chair little man, the excitement is over – I promise.”

Sheepishly, Jack eased the chair back down to the ground. Zoot jerked his head towards the back flap and beckoned Jack to step outside. Glancing over at Bray, Jack nervously followed Zoot out the back of the tent.

“First off, relax – I don’t think I want to have any more problems, at least not today,” Zoot chuckled. “I think you noticed Top Hat recognized you.”

“Yeah, so?” Jack asked, not feeling quite as brave as he hoped he sounded.

“He gave me the short version of your misadventures with Tribe Circus,” Zoot said. “I’m impressed. To be honest, I wouldn’t have thought a pipsqueak like you could have stood up to the kind of treatment Top Hat usually dishes out, let alone escape.” Zoot laid a hand on Jack’s shoulder and squeezed. Pain began to blossom in Jack’s shoulder.

“Now, it strikes me that someone who could take Bruno down and escape from Tribe Circus is probably the kind of person who would be able to help Bruno escape from the Inferno.” Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Zoot held up a warning finger. “Don’t say anything – I don’t think I want you to admit to anything, and I wouldn’t want to be insulted with a lie.”

Zoot relaxed his grip on Jack’s shoulder, “Two escapes and your action in there trying to protect Brandon are pretty impressive. It’s the kind of thing I usually admire. I don’t like fighting with people I admire. I’m telling you all this because I wouldn’t appreciate someone helping Skull escape, you understand?”

“Yeah, yeah I understand,” Jack said.

“I figure you’re not real happy knowing what’s going to happen to Skull,” Zoot said. “But, remember this – he’s trouble. The City and all of the Tribes are better off with him neutralized.”

“Okay, okay – I get your point,” Jack said.

“I thought you would,” Zoot smiled. “Now, just between you and me – did you really bite Bruno’s dick clean off?”

“Yeah, I did,” Jack admitted staring steadily into Zoot’s eyes. “He was raping me and I did what I had to do.”

Zoot’s eyes widened in honest admiration, “I really am impressed,” he said. “I thought Top Hat was exaggerating. Maybe there’s more to you Shiprats than meets the eye.” Patting Jack’s face, Zoot turned and headed back into the tent. Jack squatted down on his haunches, lowered his head and took several deep breaths before standing and following Zoot back inside.

The Tribal Council dragged on long into the afternoon – at times, it seemed that there wasn’t any hope of even the loosest of alliances being formed. Thrill of the Amazons was all for backing the Shiprats without any reservations. But, anything the Amazons were in favor of was met with resistance from the Valkyrie Tribe. Zoot kept strangely silent, watching how Bray dealt with each problem as it arose. Several times during the afternoon, Jack caught Zoot staring in his direction. Jack realized the biggest problem was that most of the other Tribes just didn’t trust each other. For the most part, each was a warrior Tribe – they had reached their positions by fighting off the advances of other Tribes. Some of those Tribes no longer existed, and those that did were represented in the tent. The old wounds might not be open any longer, but it was clear to see that they hadn’t quite healed over, either.

Finally, Zoot stood and addressed the Tribe leaders. “I’ll be honest – I think there is some kind of danger from The Leader, but I’m not sure it’s as big a danger as the Shiprats seem to believe. I don’t deny that Jack there seems pretty smart – probably smarter than any of us at any rate.

“But, the fact is Jack and the Shiprats aren’t fighters like we are. His analysis is based on avoiding fights – and for some, I guess that’s a noble position to take. But it’s not a position for the rest of us – I can’t remember the last time the Amazons backed away from a fight. I know neither I nor any Loco has ever backed away from a fight, and we never intend to, either.”

“What’s your point?” Brandon asked.

“My point is, that I think The Leader is a fighter like the rest of us,” Zoot explained. “I think his analysis will be different. Attacking The City will be more of a headache than he wants to take on. I think he’ll realize that he’ll have his hands full with a lot of Tribes all at once. So far, he’s kept to small towns with only one Tribe, or just a few small Tribes, at any rate. I believe he’ll find a place to set up his own little empire and stop there. He might even move to the edge of The City, but I don’t think he’ll actually try to take it over.” He turned towards Jack and Bray and politely bowed in their direction. “I thank you for your apparently genuine concern for the well being of all the Tribes in The City, but I have to reject any mutual defense agreements. Your fights are not necessarily my fights.”

One by one the other Tribe leaders stood and pretty much repeated what Zoot had said. They all admitted The Leader might pose a threat to minor Tribes, but doubted he’d try to take over any of the larger, well-established Tribes. None of them were willing to give up even the slightest bit of their power to support another Tribe. By the time the last leader finished speaking and took his seat, every eye in the tent was turned towards Bray.

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed,” Bray said evenly. “Because I am. But, I am also pretty impressed with what went on here today. I think a lot of good has come from this Council – as far as I know, this is the first time all Tribal leaders have met in one place before. We just proved that we can all get together and at least talk over potential problems, and that’s a good thing.”

Most of the Tribe leaders had no choice but to grudgingly agree with Bray. The day had been successful in that respect. None of them counted Skull’s little outburst – he was known as being almost as crazy as the former leader of the Demon Dogs, and far more stupid than Lobo ever had been.

“So, I’d like to propose we consider doing this again in the near future,” Bray continued. “We don’t have to agree to anything right now, just consider doing it again sometime soon.”

“I don’t see the harm in that,” Thrill said. “It’s kind of like a holiday.”

“Good,” Bray pressed on. “I’d also like to ask you all to think – just think – about having some kind of messenger service between Tribes in The City – just to keep the lines of communication between us open.”

With no real objections to Bray’s proposal, the official Council ended on a quiet note. Bray asked everyone to be the guests of honor at a dinner to be held around sundown in the tent. He mentioned that there would be fresh-baked cherry and apple pies as well as several large pork roasts, a turkey, and fresh vegetables.

As soon as the other Tribe leaders left the tent to wander through the Market and watch Sasha’s entertainers, Jack spun on Brandon chastising him for risking doing more damage to his knee by walking around in it like he had. Jack asked Jordan to get a wheelchair from the ship’s hospital so Brandon could move around without risking additional damage to his knee. Brandon grinned and held up his hands in supplication – he knew when he was outmatched. And, he was clearly outmatched when Jack was in his mother hen mode.

Ryan came up shaking his head sadly, “I can’t believe they turned down a mutual protection pact.”

“It makes sense from their point of view,” Bray said. “The truth is we came out with more than I dared hoped for.”

“Huh?”

“Look Ryan, we got them to agree to more Tribal Councils,” Bray said. “That’s a start in the right direction. Now, we can send messengers to any Tribe and know they’ll be safe.”

“Okay – so it’s a start,” Ryan conceded. “But, Jack laid everything out so perfectly and then after they saw for themselves what happened to Brandon, they still refused to join together. I just don’t get it.”

“Oh they believed Jack’s analysis,” Bray said. “But, most of them think they can either cut a deal to share The City with The Leader by selling everyone else out, or they actually believe they can hand The Leader a defeat that will make him think twice about attacking them again.”

“And then they’ll make a deal with The Leader,” Ryan said, understanding at last. “Pretty smart the way you figured that out, Bray.”

“Not me,” Bray said. “Jack had most of that figured out about a week ago.”

“I didn’t really do anything,” Jack protested. “Bray laid out all the information – he really just used me as a sounding board.”

“Well both of you are pretty smart,” Ryan said, clearly impressed.

“We also know we can probably count on the Amazon Tribe if we need to ask them for help,” Jack pointed out.

“Then why not just openly join us?” Brandon asked. “It’s clearly in their best interests.”

“Because then they’d look weak in front of the other Tribes,” Ryan said, surprising even himself.

“Exactly,” Jack agreed. “That’s the problem with the warrior Tribes – they can’t afford even the smallest sign that they might not be strong enough to defend themselves without outside help.”

“Because then the other Tribes would be ready to start carving them up,” Ryan concluded.

“Two for two,” Jack grinned.

Ryan grinned back, “You know, this thinking things through isn’t as hard as I used to think,” he joked.

Amber walked with Bray through the carnival atmosphere of the Market. Everyone seemed to be having a good time – the bargaining was going on fast and furious, but in an amazingly friendly manner. Every few paces they found some kind of entertainment – near one booth, a tall, cadaverous teen with short cropped blue hair and his face painted white like a mime thrilled everyone by exhaling great gouts of flame high into the sky. Further along was a juggler laughing along with his audience as he kept five brightly colored balls in the air.

“I’m surprised Bubba didn’t show up today,” Amber said. “You really could have used her support.”

“I knew she wasn’t going to be here,” Bray answered. “Sasha went out to see her the other day. She decided it was probably best for her to stay away.”

“Why is that?” Amber asked.

“She has promised her support to us,” Bray answered with a slight grin. “It’s true most of her Tribe are kids…”

“Kids who aren’t all there upstairs,” Amber added.

“True,” Bray admitted. “But, she’s positive they can do things like act as runners between outposts with messages. She said as long as they think it’s all a game, they’ll be pretty effective. Then, there’s Bubba herself – I think in a tight spot she’s probably worth four or five people.”

Amber nodded; she was beginning to understand Bray’s methods. She had thought it was curious that while Luke confirmed Jordan’s story, he never actually came right out and promised that the Farm Tribe would fight alongside the Shiprats. Now, she knew that Bubba and the Lost Boys and Girls Tribe was also secretly allied with the Shiprats. The three Tribes would prove to be a fairly resourceful army. And, she reminded herself not to forget about the likelihood of a secret alliance with the Amazon Tribe.

The Tribe leaders trickled back to the tent, staring in open amazement at the bounty of fresh food that was generously piled on platters on a buffet style serving table. The sides of the tent had been rolled up to allow the early evening breeze blow through the tent. The atmosphere wasn’t exactly jovial, but it wasn’t really strained, either. Conversation seemed limited to chatting about the entertainment they had seen during the afternoon, or the good deals they had managed to wrangle while visiting the Market. Amber and Bray both decided overly polite conversation was far better than open physical attacks on each other, and so both were happy for small miracles.

Jack and Dal, who had joined them for dinner, both wolfed down their food like they hadn’t eaten in days. In Jack’s case, Amber wasn’t sure that wasn’t true – she couldn’t remember actually seeing him eat in the Dining Room on the ship. In fact, she couldn’t remember seeing him in the dining room lately. Between shoveling food into their mouths, Jack and Dal shared conspiratorial glances with each other, which only seemed to spur them to eat even faster. Eating the way they did, it didn’t take long for them to clean everything from their plates. Grinning, they both pushed away from the table and hurry from the tent with a sly wink in Bray’s direction.

“Time for the big surprise?” Amber asked, leaning close to Bray.

“I think they’ll wait just a little longer for the big show,” Bray smiled. “I think we can expect a little bit of a warm up, first.”

Suddenly, a blinding cone of light split the gathering darkness. It danced madly across the parking lot. Looking up, Amber saw one of the ship’s powerful spotlights being swung around in dizzying circles. Finally, the spotlight beam came to rest on a lone figure standing on the catwalk of the first water purification lagoon. Amber recognized Sasha, his arms outstretched, a bullhorn on one raised hand.

“Hello friends,” Sasha called, hid voice amplified by the bullhorn held up to his lips. “Is everybody having a good time?” A few voices gave throat to weak cheers. “Oh, come on – you can do better than that! Is everybody having a good time?” He repeated even louder. This time the night air was filled with loud cheering.

“That’s a lot better,” Sasha laughed into the bullhorn. “Now, for something totally unexpected – what better way to end a good day than with a dance?” He pointed up to the ship and shouted, “Hit it!”

The cheers were much louder as a bouncy tune filled the air from loudspeakers posted on telephone poles around the parking lot. At first, Amber couldn’t recognize the music – she listened for a few minutes until she hear the refrain ‘Girls just want to have fun.’

Looking out into the parking lot, Amber saw kids beginning to dance and bob their heads in time to the bouncy music. Jack appeared a few moments later, his face beaming as he slid into a chair opposite Bray and Amber.

“Well, what do you think?” He asked, the words spilling out of him in a torrential rush. “Dal’s a pretty good DJ, isn’t he? And, what about Sasha as Master of Ceremonies? Wasn’t he great?”

“Slow down, Jack!” Amber laughed. “You’re gonna blow a gasket.” She turned and watched the dancing crowd. Amber noticed that all the songs being played were bouncy and light in tone. She recognized old songs like ‘Our House,’ ‘I Come From a Land Down Under,’ and a lot of a band she recognized as Duran Duran.

“Whose chose the music?” Amber asked.

“Dal and Sasha,” Jack said, still smiling broadly. “They know all these cool old songs – they picked only ones that make people feel happy.”

“How’d you get all those speakers put up?” Amber asked.

“Oh, them,” Jack said with an amused snort. “They were already up there, Dal and I just had to get a couple rewired and hooked into the ship’s public address system.”

Amber leaned over the table, took Jack’s face in her hands and planted a kiss on his forehead, “Jack this is the best way to end our first Market day.”

Blushing furiously, Jack beamed, “Oh, this isn’t the end. Oh no – this is just the warm up for the end. Just wait.”

Before Amber could pester Jack with more questions, Bray pulled her up and towards the dancing crowd. By the time they got back, exhausted and laughing, Jack was gone. The music went on for almost two hours before it died out and Sasha once again stood on the catwalk, bullhorn in hand as the powerful spotlight bathed him in light.

“Wasn’t that fun?” Sasha bellowed to the crowd. The answering cheer was all the answer he needed. “And now, for something really different! But first, we need to set the mood.” He looked around the crowd expectantly. “For one thing, it’s far too bright with all these lights on. BAM!” His hand slashed the air and one by one the lights blinked out leaving the parking lot in near total darkness. Only the bright cone of the spotlight cast any illumination in the parking lot.

In the tent there were some startled growls from the other Tribe leaders, and even a couple of angry exclamations. Bray moved quickly lighting a few candles and assuring everyone that there wasn’t anything wrong.

Gasps of wonder mixed with nervous ooohs and ahhhs as clouds of fog began spilling out from beneath the catwalk. The fog hugged the ground, rolling towards the crowd and obscuring their legs from the knees down.

“That’s a little better,” Sasha bellowed into the bullhorn. “But now, it’s too dark and far too quiet.” On cue, the haunting tones of ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ spilled from the speakers as Sasha raised his hands over his head. Suddenly, he spun around dramatically pointing behind him. A shower of brilliant blue-white sparks cascaded high into the air.

Thunderous cheers went up at the sight of the fireworks as Sasha frantically spun around, his hands slashing the air and pointing. With each gesture more fountains of sparks shot high into the air. There were high curtains of yellow, red, orange, and white sparks shooting at least thirty feet up into the night sky. Soon cascades of sparks shooting high into the sky ran the entire length of the lagoon behind Sasha. Then, the fountains of sparks shot up from behind the second and third lagoons bathing the entire parking lot in bright light.

Sasha was little more than a silhouette against the leaping fountains of sparks behind him. He continued to dance and spin around to the delight of the crowd. Suddenly, he paused and pointed high into the air. Expectantly, every head turned to look up into the night sky. Loud booms rent the night seconds before bright blossoms of fireworks filled the night with colored sparks.

Jack appeared in the tent again, his face flushed and excited. “Well, what do you think now?”

Amber clapped her hands gleefully, “It’s wonderful, Jack. You’re a genius!”

Giggling, Jack took her hand and dragged her into the parking motioning for Bray to follow. He turned them around to face the ship. “Tell me what you see,” he shouted over the din.

Looking across the parking lot, neither Amber nor Bray could understand what Jack was going on about.

“Um – big sprays of fireworks?” Amber asked in confusion.

“No, no, no,” Jack shook his head. “Look past the fireworks – look at the ship.”

Amber and Bray turned to follow Jack’s directions. At first they couldn’t see anything but the fireworks. “Keep looking,” Jack urged them as he turned to signal to Sasha. Nodding, Sasha passed the signal along to Dal who was running the fireworks show. The cascades of sparks in front of the ship died out. Suddenly, Amber and Bray gasped in wonder – the entire bow of the ship had disappeared.

“How…” Amber gasped.

“It worked,” Jack sighed happily.

“What worked, Jack?” Bray asked. “It’s got to be an optical illusion, right?”

“Right,” Jack confirmed, his eyes shining brightly. “But, it can also be a defensive weapon.”

The fireworks show went on for another hour. After that, it took another two hours before the last of the Market visitors had finally filed out of the parking lot. During that whole time, Jack refused to say anything more about his words earlier. The most he would admit was that Sasha had discovered a warehouse of fireworks during one of his scouting trips.

Bray tried without success to get Jack to elaborate about his comments about fireworks being a defensive weapon. But, all Jack would say was that Bray needed to forget about fireworks and think about optical illusions.

To be continued…