Adamant Tower Ch. 2

She woke, and there were crisp white bandages on her arm. It seemed strange that in such a dirty place medical care would be so sanitary, but as she looked around the little church from her spot against the church's wall, it was clean and very organized, if a bit shabby. As many as fifty men and twenty women in very old-fashioned nurses' dress were lounging around smoking, and she could see no other wounded or injured in the building. As the woman tried to sit up to get a better view, her eyes clouded and her body fell limply back to the thin mattress.1

"Save the strength for later, comrade," said the blue-eyed man from the pew next to her, surrounded by smoke. "One hundred percent, you will need it for later."2

"You should not smoke, comrade. It adds to de rain-clouds. And I ask you to never call me something as archaic as comrade." The woman covered her eyes.3

"We're all bound for heaven or hell anyhow. It matters if we end up there a few seconds or minutes earlier?"4

"It matters to people who still have hope. Soldiers should have hope, no?"5

The man laughed, and stretched out backward over the pew. "If I were a soldier, I might then have hope."6

The woman uncovered her eyes. "If you are not a soldier, why were you looking for me, and why would you have a gun?" And why would you bring me to an army hospital?7

"Out here, anyone can get a gun, comrade." The man laughed sadly. "You know how it goes. These parts were divvied up by warlords centuries ago. New Yorkers try to avoid killing other New Yorkers. The people who are as rich as you can be out here protect and maintain their little kingdoms. There are three Bronxes, four Queens. And we're all in this sinking ship of a city."8

"You did not answer me. What are you?"9

He blew out smoke and looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "I'm a historian. I'm a storyteller. I'm a pianist. And most importantly, I'm the lapdog of the Duke of this little Duchy you've taken up temporary residence in."10

"Duke? Duchy?"11

"I'm one of Andy Marino's favorite people. I play for him almost every night; it keeps his blood pressure down."12

The woman looked at the man cooly. "Andrew Marino?"13

"What, never heard of him?"14

"Or course I have. I told you, I worked wit de government. Notorious smuggler. Polygamist, father of twenty-two. Murderer. Thief. Coward, since he will not even meet wit us face to face."15

The man pulled heavily from his cigarette. "You call that being a coward? After a pattern of about fifteen mystery shootings after meeting with you people, there's no such thing. We're as highly evolved as you are, comrade."16

"Stop saying dat awful word. I'm not even Russian."17

"Oh? Ukrainian?"18

"Polish!"19

He coughed on his cigarette, bent double with his hand to his ribs, and kept laughing between his hacking; he had obviously been a smoker since his twelfth birthday. Cradling her injured arm, she rolled over, away from the pew. 20

Compose yourself, boy, she thought bitterly.21

His coughs lightened. "Your name, before I leave to talk to Marino about you?"22

"Lydia. Bukowski."23

"Samuel. Maverick," he said, waving the cigarette.24

"Hmph. My father's name was Samuel."25

Sam rose off the pew. "And it's not anymore?"26

"He's dead."27

"It's still his name, ain't it?"28

Sam had strode away by the time she rolled back over. Her face was puzzled. 29

"Guard her," he told the nearest uniformed man. The man nodded and silently sat in the pew Sam had just vacated. 30

---31

Lydia lay there for what must have been an hour before the man Sam came back. He was smoking what must have been a fresh cigarette and carrying a cup. He handed the cup over to her.32

"What is it?"33

He looked down at her wide-eyed, but then softened almost to a smile. "It's water. Comrade."34

She returned his wide eyes. "How do you get clean water out here?"35

"We boil it. It's clean, we just need it sterilized a little more."36

"But...you can't just take it from de Hudson. It's pure poison."37

"We've had your pipes tapped for two hundred years. Who do you take us for?"38

Lydia's eyes told him the answer, but she obliged in drinking. In her mouth, the water felt like it had been sitting stagnant in the sun. She made a face after swallowing.39

"So warm, did you just boil it?"40

Sam laughed again. "We don't have synthetic cooling like the real world. We savages just deal with it," he replied. He rubbed his arms as though he were cold. "It's only thirty degrees today anyway. You people may not realize it, but us who're exposed to the elements feel it. Global cooling is way under way."41

Lydia snorted. "You who are exposed may have more to worry about dan falling centigrade."42

"What do you mean?" Lydia looked up from her water in bewilderment. Sam had dropped his cigarette and was bent over to almost Lydia's eye level. There was something in his voice she had never heard before from anyone.43

Her voice shook. "Well, what else would I have come here for but to warn you?"44