Published: 4 Jun 2020

Closing the Ranch (9175)

Calvin

I tuned the television to the last operating satellite news channel. Daddy knew what was happening, and had returned early. We were in my den with what I thought of as the “command team.” We saw panic in the eyes of the talking head. The government of the USA had declared bankruptcy when the Chinese had called in some twenty-five trillion dollars in treasury bonds.

The station went off the air in late morning, but not before it announced the utter economic collapse of the USA. In the next room, Kevin, Casey, Paul, and a couple of others were scouring the airwaves – satellite and radio as well as what was left of the internet – trying to find more information. I had another, more important task.

“Daddy? It’s time to close the ranch,” I said and then I called, “Kevin? Casey? Mars? Tisiphone? I need you.”

They appeared, Kevin and Casey with iPads in hand. I started giving orders.

“Everyone left on the list is to be translocated here in the next two hours. Any deliveries that don’t make it by then will be allowed in only if we are absolutely sure they’re not being followed or monitored. I want this place sealed so tight a flea couldn’t get in or out. Pass the word. Casey, you are in charge of allowing people in. Mars? You’re responsible for coordinating defense with the Scions. First order of business would be a roadblock at the entrance road.

Paul briefed us on what he had found on the airwaves and internet. “The president and his wife and the children have gone into hiding. No one seems to know where. There are rumors he’s in a resort in Wisconsin, that he’s in Barbados, and that he’s flown Air Force One to Saudi Arabia.

“Peligrini tried to grab power before the Vice President could be located, but that was squashed right quickly. The VP is probably being manipulated by an unholy alliance of the Roman faction – yeah, he got there from Chicago as fast as if he’d translocated there – and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They’re not in Washington, though. Probably at the Alternate in Maryland, possibly some unknown hiding place.”

“What are the cities like?” Gary asked.

“Damn little info,” Calvin said. “You know about the riots in DC, including the one that brought Mars here. You know about the riots in Chicago from Paul and Brian and the others from that city. Thanks to the Norns and the Furies – okay, the Kindly Ones – we got everyone out of Erewhon and Father Donovan’s orphanage.

Kevin

We had been sealed for two weeks. I was on guard duty the day the car arrived. Even though the wards were in place, there was always someone on guard – one of the gods and one of the Scions. The Scion, today, went by “Hank.” I don’t think they had real names and if they did, the names were probably something unpronounceable and Greek. Hank looked like he was right out of the old cowboy movies: weathered face, bow-legged from living on a horse, wrinkles around his eyes from squinting into the sun – until you looked closer and saw his green scales and red eyes. The first time I saw one of the Scions, I was scared, but Hank and I seemed to get along right well, and we often worked together.

Hank was in the hills watching the road, and told me a dusty car was coming up the road.

Hank, any car that would come up that road is dusty, I thought to him. If it weren’t dusty, that would be interesting. I giggled.

What’s really interesting, Hank thought, is it has blue lights hidden behind the front grill, and more in the back window. It’s an unmarked police car.

How many people?

Driver adult male; adult female in the front seat. Two kids in the back seat. They seem scared and hurting but not dangerous.

Refugees, I thought. How’d they find this place? How’d they get past the wards? I could feel Hank’s shrug. He didn’t have an answer.

I needed backup. Thanks to Hank’s warning, I had time to get a couple of more men to meet me in the parking lot.

The car didn’t make it to the parking lot. Hank reported that the engine sputtered and died a mile before it got there.

“Come on! We don’t want them getting loose on the ranch” I called and ran down the road.

“Mister? I’d be obliged if you’d step away from the car and keep your hands in sight.”

“I’m a cop,” he said. “Deputy sheriff. I know the drill. I’ve got a 9-mm in the waist of my pants in back, a .32-caliber on my left ankle. There’s a shotgun racked in the front seat. And more in the trunk.”

“Who are you, how did you get here?” I asked.

“Do you mind? The people in the car, they haven’t eaten in two days. We ran out of water yesterday. Please, they need help…”

Daryn

I had kept my promise – more like a threat – to the woman at Family Services, and checked up on the two boys Nemesis and Benji had rescued from the old school bus. Over the months, they’d been moved twice. I had run across the current foster-mother before, and knew she wouldn’t like me checking up on her, but I hadn’t counted on open hostility from her husband.

“Look-a here,” he said. “You ain’t got no call to come out here. An’ you ain’t got no call to question how we is takin’ care of them boys.” His massive butt almost completely filled the doorway. He held onto the doorframe with both hands.

His hands, I thought. Knuckles scraped. He’s been in a fight, or—

My instincts kicked in. Something was wrong. I grabbed one forearm, stepped back and then to the side. The man’s own weight propelled him down the steps. He fell onto the ground. Before he could recover, I had him cuffed.

“What the f—”

That’s all I heard, I was up the steps and into the house. Where were the boys? Where was the woman?

I found the boys behind the only closed door in the house. Couldn’t call the room a bedroom: no beds, no mattresses, no furniture of any kind. The boys were huddled on a filthy blanket in one corner. The windows had been boarded over; the only light came through the doorway I was standing in. The old school bus they had once lived in was far better than this.

They saw me and cowered. Then, they recognized me, and cowered more.

“Please don’t hurt Spence,” the older said. “I’ll do anything you want, just please don’t hurt Spence.”

He was Tommy. The younger boy was Spencer. “Tommy, I’m not here to hurt you. Spence? Who has been hurting you?”

“The man…” Spencer said. His voice was soft, a whisper.

“Boys, I’m here to help you, not hurt you. Do you remember Benji and Nemesis? They’re my friends, and they’re little boys, just like you.” Well, not exactly. Nemesis is a god, and Benji? If he’s hanging around with Nemesis, he’s probably at least a little more than human.

“Benji and Nemesis wouldn’t like me to hurt you. Look, the man who hurt you is lyin’ in the front yard with my handcuffs on him. I’ve got to get you out of here before the woman comes back. Please, please trust me?”

Tommy hugged his little brother, and whispered to him. Then he looked up.

“Mister Sheriff, we’re gonna trust you but I promise, if you hurt Spence I’ll find a way to kill you.”

“Tommy,” I said, “we got a deal.” I tried to talk as seriously as he had. I think he understood. His eyes got wide enough that I could see them even in the dim light. He stood, and pulled the littler boy to his feet.

“Sara Lee? Will you marry me?”

The woman at the ______ County sheriff’s office dispatch desk swiveled her chair toward the counter where I stood. “Daryn Lee, if you ever sneak up on me that way—

“What did you say?”

“Sara Lee, I’m askin’ you to marry me, and to run away with me, and to adopt two boys that were thrown away by their family and their foster parents and go somewhere they and we will be safe,” I managed to say before the police radio interrupted us.

Sara Lee answered the radio, made a couple of phone calls, got back on the radio for a minute, and then looked at me, again.

“I was sort of hoping for you kneeling at my feet, maybe after a dinner in that fine restaurant in Birmingham you took me to, once. And a diamond ring, and a church wedding to make my mama happy.”

“That’s not gonna happen, Sara Lee. I’m sorry; it’s just not gonna happen.”

She nodded, not just because her mama was dead, killed by a couple of home invaders last month, and not just because she knew I didn’t have any truck with church. And not just because she knew about the riots over in Birmingham. She worked the county 911 Center radio, and she knew what was going on better than most. No way was anybody going to have a big church wedding, now-a-days.

“Daryn, I’ll marry you. I’ll even adopt your boys, on one condition: you give me children of my own.

“And where the heck did you get the boys I’m going to adopt?”

It took a whole lot longer for me to explain about Tommy and Spencer than it did for Sara Lee to quit her job as soon as her relief showed up for work. I didn’t tell Sara Lee about Nemesis being a kid or a god. I promised myself I’d tell her that later.

“The best-laid plans often go astray,” wrote Robert Burns except he wrote it in poetry. He was right. My plan had been to call Gary in Chicago and tell him we were coming his way and needed refuge in that orphanage he was running. I figured with two kids I helped him rescue, and who were at least technically orphans, he probably owed me. It didn’t work out that way.

The cell phone number I had for Gary didn’t connect. I didn’t know if it was because his phone was no longer in the system, or because the system was down so much. I tried land-line to Erewhon, and got an intercept: “The number you have dialed has been disconnected.” The information operator wasn’t any help.

I called in every favor I could think of to find out what was going on, but no one had answers. I looked at my watch: it had been two hours since I had cuffed the fat child-abuser. His wife surely was home by now. We had to move.

“Sara Lee? Would you start packing the car? Food that will keep. Water, juice, whatever you can find. We’re going on a long picnic. Blankets, whatever you think we’ll need.

“Tommy? Spencer? We’re going to find Nemesis and Benji. It’s going to be a tough trip. Can I count on you to help?”

The boys nodded.

“Would you help Sara Lee load the car?”

From my bedroom, I brought two packages: one was a cashbox with bills and, more important, gold coins. The other was a duffle full of weapons and ammunition.

Thirty minutes later, we were heading west. I kept the police radio on the county frequency until we went out of range of the repeater, and then switched to the state police band. I didn’t hear anything about them looking for me. Didn’t mean they weren’t. They’d know I’d be listening.

It was late when we neared Birmingham. I gassed up at a truck stop, picking a pump that was in shadow. Sara Lee went inside and got some burgers and fries to go. We bypassed Birmingham through Hoover, and then picked up I-20.

I was headed for Chicago, so why was I driving west across the southern USA, especially when I-65 led straight from Birmingham to Chicago? Mostly because of what I was hearing on the satellite radio stations. The governor of Kentucky had declared martial law, and called out the state militia. Someone had blown up a mail distribution center and food stamps hadn’t arrived on time. People were starving, and some were using the situation as an excuse to organize mass raids on grocery stores. Once that started, and people found out the police couldn’t do anything about it, every store and shopping center became fair game.

About 10:00 PM, I turned off the interstate and drove down a two-lane blacktop until I found a place to pull off. The boys were already asleep in the back.

“Sara Lee,” I whispered. “This isn’t much of a wedding night.”

She laughed, softly. “We’re not married, yet, Mr. Lee, so keep your hands to yourself.

“Do you know that I’m going to be Sara Lee Lee after we’re married? Do you suppose I could change my name?”

I laughed back. “Try to get some sleep,” I said. “I’m going to stay up to make sure nobody saw us and tries to sneak up on us. I’ll wake you, later. You’ll drive first thing, tomorrow and I’ll nap, okay?”

I got a kiss for that. It didn’t take Sara more than a minute to fall asleep. Well, she was a cop.

About midnight, I cranked the built-in generator on the emergency radio, plugged in the earphone, and started scanning. I figured some of the clear channel stations would come in right well on a winter evening. I was right.

“This is WBBM, Chicago. I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to stay on the air. We’re operating from … well, I probably shouldn’t say exactly. We have fuel for the generators for another few days, unless we’re discovered by the mobs that have taken over the city.”

That report clinched it. We couldn’t go to Chicago. But where? The answer came after 4:00 AM, after I woke up Sara Lee. I told her to wake me as soon as it was light enough to see to drive, and then fell asleep. And dreamed.

The dream was like a black & white rerun of the old “Hopalong Cassidy” TV shows. Cowboys. The good guys in white hats; the bad guys in black hats. Hopalong losing the fistfight in the first half of the show and then kicking the butts of the bad guys in the second half. It was a dream of the Old West, and it called to me.

We reached Meridian, Mississippi early the next morning. We had stopped at a couple of stations looking to top off the gas tank, but they were either out of gas or didn’t have electricity to pump it. Good thing my patrol car had an auxiliary tank. I pulled off at a shopping mall in Meridian. Things looked normal. There seemed to be a lot of people in uniform. I remembered: there was a Naval Air Station nearby. There were women and kids walking in and out of the shopping center. I figured it was safe.

“Sara Lee? Would you take the boys to get some clothes?” I gave her a handful of bills. “I’m going there.” I pointed to an outdoor store. “Meet back here in two hours?”

The outdoor store, a national chain, had been stripped of guns and ammo. I was able to pick up some camping stuff: a tent, Coleman lantern, sleeping bags, dried food, canteens, and best of all six, five-gallon gas cans that we filled up before leaving town.

I didn’t know if I should stick to the Interstate, or if we’d be safer on back roads. My instinct said back roads, but something – I think it was Tommy whistling along with the theme from “Deliverance” on the satellite radio – that made up my mind. I stuck to the interstate highways: I-20 until we got to Midland, Texas where I-20 became I-10. Since I’m still not sure who will read this, I’m not going to give any directions past that.

I dreamed every night, and the dreams were always about the cowboys.

The road was nearly invisible, like it had been abandoned years ago and was about to disappear under the dust and tumbleweeds that blew constantly. Both gas gauges read empty. The motor had already sputtered once. I turned onto the road.

Sara Lee woke up when the tires rumbled over an old metal cattle guard, but dropped off instantly. I had barely gotten around a bend and out of sight of the two-lane when the engine died.

I slumped over the steering wheel for a minute, and then sat up. Desert survival, solar stills. Got to get a couple made before it gets dark … I opened the door.

“Mister? I’d be obliged if you’d step away from the car and keep your hands in sight.” It was a kid’s voice, but it was a voice filled with the same kind of power I’d once heard in Nemesis’s voice. I knew we were safe.

“I’m a cop,” I said.

I think I passed out before I could tell the kid who we were. Maybe I just took a nap. I woke when someone splashed water on my face. I took the offered canteen, and drank before I realized who was kneeling beside me.

“Nemesis?”

“Deputy Eye-Gor,” he said. And giggled. I was so happy to see him, I almost hugged him.

“Sara Lee? The boys?”

“They’re okay.” It was another voice I recognized. “They’ve been taken by ambulance to the infirmary, but they’re okay. We’ll take you there, now.

“Daryn, we lost touch with you. We looked, but you weren’t there,” Gary said. “We really did look.”

“I’m not sure we were there all the time,” I said.

Gary must have thought I was delirious. Maybe I was. He helped me into a vehicle: HUM-V, military model. The driver was a teenager. He wasn’t in uniform … he looked like a cowboy. Like one of the cowboys in my dreams. In fact, he was one of them. Gary was right. I was delirious.

We spent the first night in the infirmary.

“Not much of a wedding night,” I whispered to Sara Lee. She was in the next bed in a ward. The boys were together in the bed on the other side of me.

“We’re not married, yet, Mr. Lee; you keep your hands to yourself. Oh, and I think I’m going to be Sara Ann Lee.”

Someone had cleaned our clothes while we slept. They were laid out for us after showers the next morning. Gary came in to invite us to breakfast in what he called the main house.

“This house is Calvin and Casey’s home,” he said. He lowered his voice so that only I heard the next part. “They own the ranch and they and their boyfriends still live here.”

His voice got normal when he said, “Nemesis and I live down the way, in a group home with thirty-two boys. Benji’s one of them. Calvin and Casey have invited you and us to breakfast, to welcome you to Refuge.”

“You really call this place, Refuge,” I said. It wasn’t a question, but an acknowledgement of what had been driving me since I saw Tommy and Spencer on that filthy blanket in the corner of a darkened room.

Gary understood. He nodded.

Gary had said Calvin and Casey lived in this house with their boyfriends. We were introduced to three teens: Aiden, Kevin, and Bobby. There was also a mid-twenties man who all of them called “Uncle George.” I wasn’t sure who was who, and I wasn’t sure what Gary was trying to tell me about boyfriends. I figured I’d find out, soon enough.

Gary and Nemesis took over the kitchen and made blueberry pancakes, bacon, and sausage while the rest of us watched, drank coffee and juice, and got to know one another a little better. Calvin explained that Gary had started the blueberry pancake breakfast the morning after Nemesis had rescued Bobby, and Gary promised himself that Bobby would never again have to eat only dry cereal.

“It’s tradition, and tradition means a lot. It’s what holds us together – so many people who are so different.”

After breakfast, Casey and Aiden took charge of Tommy and Spencer, and offered to show them the horses. Spencer didn’t seem interested until Casey said there were new puppies, too. Calvin led Sara Lee, Gary, Nemesis, and me into a den. Somehow, it didn’t seem odd that a teen was in charge. He walked and talked with a confidence that belied his age … he’s another one of them, I thought. Whatever Nemesis is.

Once we’d found seats, Calvin nodded to Gary, who started.

“Miss Lee, Daryn gave me the gift of his trust some time ago. I’ve never thanked him for that, but I want you and him to know that I am grateful, and I consider it the greatest gift one person can give another. I can’t ask you to give me your trust; I can only hope that you can trust Daryn and that by that trust you will listen and try to understand and accept what you’re going to learn here, today.”

“First,” she said, “please call me Sara. Second, Daryn has told me a lot about you, about what you did for him in Afghanistan. He told me that you had something to do with the rescue of Tommy and Spencer, and of the boys in the sheriff’s studio, but he’d never tell me the details. I figured you and he had called in some of your old military contacts. Didn’t matter. It worked and it was the right thing to do.

“Anyway, if Daryn trusts you – as I know he does – then I’ll do as you ask. I’ll listen with an open mind and I will ask any questions I have to ask in order to understand.”

Sara Lee

Gary nodded, and began the strangest story I’d ever heard. Calvin and Casey, and the boys who were at breakfast, and Uncle George, had the powers of ancient Greek gods. According to some folks, they were those gods, although Gary preferred to think of himself and them as avatars: humans who had been given certain powers he called Authorities.

Nemesis chimed in with some details. “Uncle George is the Avatar of Death. He has responsibilities involving unusual or untimely deaths. He’s not the scary guy in the black cowled robe with the great honkin’ scythe, although we kids tease him about that. He’s not the god of muscle cars, although he drives a really hot Mustang. And he’s really just about eighteen years old, although he was born around 1760. What you saw at breakfast was one of his Aspects, the one he wears when he’s being foreman of the ranch, or being Death.

“Gary got his powers through Apollo, who was one of the doctors you saw, yesterday. The other doctor was his son, Richard – Asclepius. Gary’s powers came from Artemis, so he’s the Protector of Children. Calvin is Uncle George’s partner.”

“And Uncle George’s boyfriend,” Calvin said. “They have to know.”

Nemesis nodded. “I have the powers of Retribution. I go by Nemesis because…” His voice softened and quivered.

“Because I was a really bad person and I don’t want anyone to know, not even me.”

Gary grabbed the boy, and hugged him. I didn’t hear what he whispered, but the boy brightened, and the tears that were forming, stopped.

“And Gary’s my boyfriend,” Nemesis added, unnecessarily.

I sat quietly. Nemesis appeared to be about twelve; Gary I knew to be in his twenties. I promised to listen and try to understand. They weren’t through.

Calvin picked up the story. “Casey is my brother. Aiden is his boyfriend. Kevin and Bobby are my boyfriends. Uncle George is my boyfriend and Kevin’s. Uh, Bobby’s still too little for some of the boyfriend stuff.” He blushed.

“There are others, and you will meet them…” Gary said.

I laughed. Daryn knew my moods, and he knew it was not a mocking laugh. I saw understanding on Gary’s face, and then Calvin’s. Then, Nemesis was laughing, too. He understood; we shared a smile.

“Gentlemen,” I said, “and I believe you to be gentle men and boys. I wanted to be a cop since I was a kid, and I’ve been a deputy sheriff since I was eighteen. The fat bastard who was sheriff before Daryn shot him wouldn’t let me do anything but office work and radio dispatch, even though I had more training in law and law enforcement than he did. Daryn and a couple of the other deputies defied their boss, and took me on ride-alongs – starting when I was fourteen.

“There are two reasons to tell you this. First, it didn’t bother Daryn or the others that I wasn’t of age. They didn’t look at me that way; they saw my desire, the stuff I’d studied on my own, my determination, and my mental maturity. I can, I think, make the same evaluation of you so-called kids. It doesn’t bother me that a kid owns this ranch and sleeps with a guy who looks a lot older than he is. It doesn’t bother me that Gary and Nemesis appear to be a lot different in age.

“Second reason is that on these ride-alongs, and later as an official deputy, I saw depths of depravity that – was about to say that you couldn’t imagine, but I think you’ve probably seen as bad or worse.”

There were several nods, and some glints in people’s eyes.

“It doesn’t take long before a good cop is able to spot evil. I think I’m a good cop; I think I know evil when I see it. I don’t see it here.

“Gary, I have no questions. I accept in my heart and my mind what you’ve said.”

Daryn hugged me. The kiss that followed was as fine a kiss as he’s ever given me.

“How do we go about getting married around here?” Daryn asked.

Gary looked at Calvin. Calvin shrugged. “Aiden?” he said.

“Aiden has powers as the Patron of Lawyers,” Gary explained. “Oddly enough, we brought very few lawyers to Refuge. Aiden’s pretty much out of a job, now, although he still has powers. I’m sure he could draw up a marriage license, even a pre-nuptial agreement, if you wanted one.”

“Gary, all we own is the clothes we’re wearing and some rags and camping equipment in the trunk of the car. I don’t think we need a pre-nup,” Daryn said.

“Father Donovan is still legally a priest, even though we heard Rome and the Vatican, are radioactive rubble from an Iranian atomic bomb. If you wanted a priest, that is. Let me work on it,” Calvin said. “I know more about who is here and what their talents are than anyone, even Gary. I’ll get back with you.”

I nodded.

Daryn

“One more thing,” Gary said. “Daryn said some strange things happened on your trip. I’d like to know more in case they could affect the safety or security of Refuge. You see – well, actually you should not have seen. We’re supposed to be protected by wards and defenses put in place by some powerful gods. You shouldn’t have found us.”

I nodded. “I kind of figured that out. Let’s see.

“First, the satellite radio and the emergency radio always seemed to find a station that warned us not to take certain roads. We heard about riots in Kentucky before we could turn north at Birmingham. Then, when we got to Jackson, Mississippi, and I was about to turn north on I-55, I heard that Chicago was in flames. Just before we got to Tyler, Texas we heard a report that warned us away from the Dallas-Fort Worth megaplex.

“The first night, I dreamed about cowboys and the old west. Didn’t think anything about it, then. But I had the same dream every night. Well, not exactly the same, but it was the same cowboys. And when I got here, I realized I’d seen Kevin, Calvin, Casey, the older guy – Hank I think – and a bunch of others. They were the cowboys in my dream.

“Gasoline was hard to find, but there was this gas station. It had a sign saying it was on Route 66, that’s the old highway between Chicago and Southern California. We weren’t even close to being between Chicago and LA, and I figured the Route 66 was a nostalgia thing, advertising. It was there when we pulled off the interstate. An old couple ran the gas station and a Stuckey’s.

“I hadn’t seen a Stuckey’s in twenty years.

“They had gas, and burgers for our lunch, and pecan candy. But the gas was twenty-nine cents a gallon, and they didn’t have bottled water. Acted like they didn’t know what I was asking for. They did help us fill up our milk cartons with water from the tap.

“Another place, same sort of thing: a Mom and Pop gas station, the kind that doesn’t exist any more, that hadn’t been taken over or run out of business by the big chains. They had gas, and electricity to pump it, and were surprised when I wondered about that. I bought a newspaper, there. Here.”

I handed the paper to Gary. He read, and then he looked across the top of the paper at me. “November, 1955,” he said. “That was more than 60 years ago.”

All I could do was nod.

Some of the gods can slip through time. Gary thought. Death and Mars, especially because they have to be in more places than they could, otherwise. I remember Uncle George telling Nemesis that Santa Clause could, too. Nemesis never did get Uncle George to confirm that Santa was an elder god. And I sure wasn’t going to spoil things.

Some of the gods can slip in time, and can take mortals with them. Someone did that for Daryn and his fiancé and the two boys. No one ever took credit, though.

Calvin

Uncle George was working his other job. On most days, Bobby or Kevin or I went with him. Mostly to keep him company. We had become inured to what it meant – helping dead people find their good place. Never a bad place. People whose death meant a bad place were usually wiped so that they started their next life as innocents. I wasn’t sure that always worked, but Uncle George said it was so, and I believed him. Uncle George was the avatar of Death, so I guess he knew. Still, he needed a lot of hugs. I think that’s why there were three of us to be his boyfriends – just to keep up with the hugs.

On most days, Uncle George was foreman of the ranch, and we got to work with him on horseback, rounding up cattle and stuff. On some nights, he needed some time alone. We were okay with that, because we knew he’d let us know if he needed us.

On this particular night, Bobby and Kevin and I were cuddled in my bed. They were asleep; I was still awake. Something was nibbling at the edge of my thoughts, and I couldn’t get to sleep. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing or hearing. I kept hearing a low droning sound, occasionally interrupted by a sudden silence that frightened me. I saw a nacreous glow—green and unwholesome, in front of me. It lit the face of a man sitting beside me. A familiar face, but one I could not call to mind.

The picture in my mind became clearer, and the sound was no longer just in my mind. The light came from the instrument panel of an airplane, and it was somewhere near the ranch. It’s not an enemy. I rolled over Kevin and grabbed my phone and hit all call. Probably more than necessary, but the only way to make sure we didn’t kill whoever was in the plane.

“This is Calvin,” I said, perhaps unnecessarily. I was the only one with all call capability. “Air defenses stand down. Someone light up the runway. They’re about out of fuel.”

They’re not going to make it! I heard the engine sputter again. “Kevin! Bobby! Wake up. We’ve got to help them.

“Dike!” I called. That call wasn’t over the cell phone network, but it connected a lot faster. “Who’s in charge of the wind? We need some help, here!”

The only call that made any real difference was the one to Dike. She didn’t answer directly, but I knew she’d heard me. Aeolus. We didn’t know him, but she did. Somehow, the wind shifted and the air buoyed the plane just enough that it reached our airfield.

The plane was a Beechcraft 35 Bonanza, with a V-tail that combined ailerons and rudder into a pair of flaps that were called elevons. One of the kids from Leopard Company explained this, perhaps unnecessarily, to his mates, and I overheard. He also said that the cruising speed was 165 knots, and that the range was 950 miles, which made me wonder where the folks in the plane had come from.

The Bonanza rolled to a stop at the end of the runway. It may have been the pilot’s intention to turn and taxi to the ramp, but the engine sputtered to a stop before he could do so. In seconds, the plane was surrounded by boys in cammies, holding weapons at the ready.

Their presence gave me the confidence I needed. I walked to the pilot’s side of the plane and gestured. A man stepped out onto the wing, and then to the ground. He appeared to be trembling, and held onto the airplane. At that moment, I knew him.

“Doctor Moisa? I remember you. If you and your family would exit the plane, we will take you to a place where you will be fed.” I felt some urgency, and added, “First, perhaps, a restroom?” and gestured to the hanger. I also gestured to Company Eagle to stand down.

I was waiting when the doctor and his son left the restroom.

“You know me?” the doctor asked. It was a silly question, since I’d just addressed him by name.

“You were one of the geologists Aiden brought to assess the value of the ranch. That was after my late step-father’s brother tried to convince me that our land was worthless. Of course, worthless is in the eye of the beholder.

“Speaking of the ranch, what brings you here?”

“My son, Jamie,” he said, and gestured to the twelve-year-old who stood beside him. “You may not believe this, but he said—

The man stopped talking. Looked at the boy, and said, “Maybe you’d better tell him, son.”

Before Jamie could say anything, the woman who would certainly be his mother, and a little girl about two years younger than Jamie, came from the ladies room.

“Let’s save that, if you don’t mind,” I said. “After so many hours in the air, you must be hungry?”

Nemesis pulled up in one of the HUM-Vs. He looked like he was twelve, but everyone knew he was okay to drive just about anything, including the over-the-road trucks that made deliveries to the ranch. The plane had been pushed into the hanger and luggage unloaded. There was just enough room for Dr. and Mrs. Moisa and Deborah, the little girl, and Gary in the back seat. I squeezed into the front bucket seat with Jamie. Nemesis looked over Jamie’s head and grinned. I don’t think anyone saw.

“It’s almost 4:00 AM, which may be a little early for breakfast,” Gary began.

“Never too early for breakfast!” Nemesis said.

“Hush, Nem, and let your daddy talk,” I said.

“However,” I continued, “we have a tradition that new friends’ first meal is breakfast, specifically blueberry pancakes and bacon, bananas and milk. I hope that’s okay? No food allergies?”

“No allergies,” Mrs. Moisa said. “However, I’m a practicing Jew and don’t eat bacon, thank you.”

Problem solved, I thought. Six of the girls Tisiphone and her sisters had rescued (with some help from us) were Jewish, and we were having a little difficulty helping them keep kosher. Me? I looked at the stars at night, and knew from Nova and Cosmos and Dr. Bob that what I saw was an infinitesimal fraction of the stars in our galaxy, and that our galaxy was an infinitesimal speck in the universe and wondered if there were a god who created all that, why he would care if I ate a bacon cheeseburger. Still, the girls…

Jamie made sure to sit next to me. I don’t think anyone noticed except Nemesis, and he not only noticed, he sent me a raspberry. Mental, of course.

After Jamie had finished his first plate of pancakes, and I’d encouraged him to take another stack from the platter Gary put in the middle of the table, I asked him to tell me what he’d been about to say, earlier.

“You’re Calvin,” he said.

I nodded. He could have heard any of a number of people call me by name.

“My dad is teaching me to fly. I study sectionals – aeronautical maps – all the time. I have the sectional for this part of the state in the plane. I’ve memorized all the airports including the old World War II training bases that are closed. You need to know, especially in a single-engine plane, where your emergency landing options are.”

He looked at me to see if I understood. I nodded. I think I was following him.

“Two nights ago, I dreamed that I was flying over Texas. I knew where I was, because it was like there was this huge sectional chart on the ground. I recognized airports, even though I couldn’t read their names. There’s something about dreams. I never can read in them!

“Anyway, I flew over a canyon wall, and saw an airstrip that wasn’t on the sectional. I knew that meant it was not only private, but secret, because the chart people put even private strips on the map. They just mark them as private. I saw a town full of kids. They were happy, not like the kids I knew, who were always afraid. I knew that this was a place of safety.”

Dr. Moisa was listening, and interjected. “When he described the canyon, I knew it was your ranch. I showed him maps and photos from my study, and he confirmed that, except he pointed out that there were a lot more buildings, and an airstrip. We confirmed that the airstrip wasn’t in any federal database.”

“Don’t worry,” Jamie said. He saw my concern. “We didn’t leave any traces.”

Dr. Moisa stood outside the townhome. Jamie, his mother and sister, were inside. “Calvin? I don’t know how we can pay our way. We are refugees, with nothing more than the clothing in our luggage, a photo album or two, and a few books.”

I explained about the Jewish girls. “Would Mrs. Moisa be willing to setup a kosher kitchen, and cook for the girls – herself, too, of course?”

“I suspect she would,” Dr. Moisa said. “She was quite proud of her kosher kitchen at home, although the kids – well, they’re kids, and I’m not practicing.”

“But you are a geologist? And probably pretty good at chemistry, too. Would you like to teach?”

He nodded.

“Welcome to Refuge Ranch, Professor Moisa! Classes will begin in two weeks.”

“What should we do with the plane?”

“Preserve it against the day it will be needed again – and we have fuel for it,” Alan said. He turned to Mr. Moisa.

“If you agree, we’ll drain the fuel and crankcase oil. We’ll spray a light-weight oil into the cylinders. I don’t know what else we might do . . . maybe there’s someone who knows more.”

Calvin

The trucks were manifested, and the purchaser was listed as Candi K. Everheart. She was Dike to most of us. Aiden had become her assistant so we called him.

“Yes!” he blurted. “Yes, yes! Let them in, please.” His eyes glazed for a second, and I knew he was telling Dike about the trucks.

“She asks that they be unloaded next to Company Leopard’s hanger on the north side. She’ll be here after … after … what’s mah-jongg?”

Dike

I was pleased the trucks had gotten through, and sent a thank you to Hermes. I know his scions had been largely if not entirely responsible for that. I also knew that the drivers’ families were with them, in the sleeper cabs, hiding. I’d have to get back to the ranch. quickly. I thanked Shasti for her hospitality, and said goodbyes to the others. “It’s been too long since we were able to relax,” I said. “And I’m sorry to have to leave. Next month, I would like you to be my guests. My friends have given me a cute townhouse overlooking a lake.”

I looked at the vista that included Mt. Everest Richard and Zhang.

As soon as the first truck stopped next to the hanger, Aiden jumped on tiptoe on the running board and held a whispered conversation with the driver.

“Are you sure?” the driver asked. “Mrs. Everheart said…”

“I just spoke to her,” Aiden said. He waved his cell phone, even though that hadn’t been the way he’d spoken to Dike. “She’s on the way, and knows that they must be uncomfortable, and perhaps frightened.”

The driver nodded. Aiden stepped off the running board and ran to the second truck. A door in the compartment behind the front seat of the first truck opened. The driver helped a woman and two children, a boy about eight, and a girl who looked about six, to the ground.

“I need to potty!” the girl said.

Casey, who was about to demand an explanation of the driver, instead pointed to Leopard’s hanger and spoke to the woman. “Through that door and to the right.

“Susan!” he called his sister. “Go with them, please. Make sure there’re no boys in the restroom! And steer the boys – all of them – to the bushes behind the hanger!”

The people who had followed the trucks watched as women and children stepped from the sleepers and dromedaries behind the drivers’ compartments of the trucks. Many of the new visitors rushed to the restroom. Calvin directed the boys to bushes in the rear of the hanger. “It’s not like Casey and I didn’t piss on just about every bush on the ranch when we was growin’ up,” he explained, mostly to put the boys at ease.

Calvin’s eyes narrowed when Dike popped in next to him. “Those eight houses you said to reserve,” he said. His voice was calm, level, flat.

Dike didn’t need to answer.

“What do they have that’s so important?” Calvin asked.

“What’s in the trucks isn’t nearly as important as who,” Dike said. “Each of the women is a qualified and experienced teacher. The drivers? They, too, are former teachers.”

She put her arms on her hips. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to find people with commercial drivers licenses who had been teachers and were married to teachers?”

She and Calvin exchanged grins. Calvin’s disappeared when Dike said, “Especially the three who were college professors. You should be able to start school in just a few weeks.”

“Me?” Calvin squeaked.

“You’re the one who recruited Professor Moisa,” she said. “I thought that was a good idea, and—”

Calvin looked at his feet. “Last time I do anyone a favor,” he said.

Dike grabbed him in a hug. “Calvin, I know you don’t mean that, so don’t say it. Someone might hear, and get the wrong idea about you.”

Tom Clancy’s guys seemed happy to have some construction to do. It took them less than two weeks to erect a second hanger from the parts that had been delivered in the new trucks. This hanger was about three times as tall as the first, but only half as wide. But it was a hanger.

One of the boys who had lived in New Jersey figured it out. “It’s a blimp hanger,” he said. “There was one at Lakehurst that one of the TV networks showed.”

“Where are we going to get a blimp,” Captain Duarte asked, but he was afraid to ask Dike, who had in any case had disappeared after leaving instructions for starting up the school system – and laying out the curriculum for not only the children, but also the child gods regardless of age. Dr. Bob was named provost, but most of his job would involve teaching.

Captain Duarte

“Refuge Ranch, this is Lima Tango Alpha One Zero on guard, over.” The voice was accented just enough to be noticeable but not enough to discern what the accent was.

Captain Alan Duarte, commander of the air wing of Refuge Ranch, insisted that his flyers maintain an open channel on the international guard frequencies whenever they were aloft, whether in a hang-glider or one of the solar-electric planes. The channel was monitored at the “tower” – a room high on the newer hanger. The tower was equipped with radios and had a good view of the runway and surrounding landscape. The radio was to be used for emergencies, only. That was something the Opsec guys insisted on.

Captain Duarte was therefore startled to receive the call from the tower. “Sir, we have a call on the UHF guard frequency. It’s someone calling themselves Lima Tango Alpha 10, and they’re calling Refuge Ranch.”

“Standby.” Duarte said.

“Sorry Calvin, emergency,” he said as soon as the phone connection was made. “Someone’s calling the tower, asking for Refuge Ranch. They’re on a UHF frequency, strictly line of sight.”

The staff meeting devolved into a babble of voices. Calvin stepped from behind his desk and grabbed Duarte’s hand. They disappeared. Several others followed them.

The kid in the tower was accustomed to gods popping in and out, but still was startled when his Captain and the guy in charge of the whole ranch appeared beside him, and more startled when Gary and a handful of others joined them.

The call came, again. “Refuge Ranch, this is Lima Tango Alpha-One Zero on guard, over.”

Calvin looked at Gary, who nodded. “He should answer them,” Calvin said.

Gary was a little surprised that Calvin said it the way he did, but gave the order.

“Answer, but don’t give away anything,” he said.

The boy nodded, and keyed the microphone. “Lima Tango Alpha One Zero, this is Refuge on guard. Over.”

“You don’t know how happy we are to hear you!” the voice said. “We’re a flight of three near the southwest corner of the ranch, and well below the ridgeline. This channel is strictly line-of-sight so no one outside can intercept – even if there were anyone outside.

“Request clearance to land. We have coordinates of your runway. We should reach you in about 45 minutes.”

“Forty-five minutes? What would take that long…” the boy on the radio blurted without thinking.

“Blimps,” Duarte answered the boy’s question. He’d figured it out. “L-T-A means lighter than air. It’s blimps, and Dike must have known.”

“Still, I’m going to ask Eagle to get here, ASAP,” Calvin said. “Captain Duarte? Please tell them it’s okay to land.” He stepped into a corner and started whispering into his cell phone.

The blimps seemed to bring out everyone in the community. The buzzing drone of their motors echoed from the buildings. The blimps flew only a couple of hundred feet above the ground. As soon as people guessed where they were headed, a surge moved toward the hill – to be stopped by scions.

“Not until we know more,” was the word.

Mars

I watched Eagle assemble and take up positions. This was the first real operation for the company and for Captain Anders. In order not to spook him, I took on the persona of a schoolboy, one of several who had slipped past the scions and who was standing with a couple of the child gods near the new hanger.

“Keep your rifles at port arms,” Captain Anders commanded. “They can believe you’re an honor guard, but you’ll be ready to fire, instantly. Do not fire unless fired upon or if I command.” It took only a few sentences to establish the rules of engagement.

Good, I thought.

The first blimp came over the hill. Horizontal flaps tilted and the nose pointed downward. The blimp slowed, and then hovered about 100 feet from the ground, in front of the hanger. Two ropes dropped from the gondola attached to the bottom of the airbag, and figures rappelled to the ground. They waved, took the ropes which grew slack as more was released, and walked toward the hanger.

Calvin, Duarte, and Anders met them.

“Please forgive us, sirs,” one of the newcomers said. “But we can’t salute. We need both hands on the rope. Uh, there should be reels for us to hook onto?”

Duarte took charge. “Yes,” he pointed. “Do you need any help?”

“Please sir?” the smaller of the two boys said. “Would you…?”

It took the two boys as well as Calvin, Duarte, and Anders thirty minutes to bring down the blimp. Meanwhile, two other blimps had come over the hill and were hovering over the runway.

As soon as the first blimp was secured in the hanger, boys poured out and began the process of bringing in the others.

Before the Refuge boys could be overwhelmed, Dike arrived.

“Boys, I’m sorry,” Dike began. “There was a serious problem I had to deal with, personally. I’m very happy that you were able to address this one on your own. You have some wonderful leaders, and it shows.

“Calvin? It’s nearly supper time, and these boys…”

There were nearly 45 boys on the blimps. Captain Duarte insisted that Leopard be their hosts. Captain Anders insisted that they all eat together, at least, and Calvin relayed that to the large mess hall, that hadn’t seen much use since the ranch was sealed. There were plenty of volunteers to help prepare the meal, and dozens of boys begging to be introduced to the newcomers.

Alan managed to get their leader alone for a moment.

“Captain Saltikov—”

“Please, call me Dimitry,” the boy interrupted.

“Dimitry, then. And I am Alan. There’s something … my boys have offered to share their barracks – actually, it’s more a home than a barracks – with your boys. You should know that all my boys are gay. We can double up, and then put your boys—”

Dimitry laughed. “Oh, Alan, my boys would love to make love to your boys! We are so few, and new boys would be very exciting for us.”

Alan listened to the cadence of Dimitry’s speech, and then asked, “Jacob? Our leaders tell us you are to be trusted, so please don’t misunderstand my question, but where are you from?”

“Russia,” Dimitry said, rolling the ‘r’ as he spoke. “And we are so grateful for warm food and hot beds!”

“How long did it take you to get here?”

“Only three weeks. It would have taken much longer, except the gods sort of pushed us part of the way. And, we cannot carry enough supplies for the long journey, in any case.”

“Why are you here?”

“Because the one you call Dike made it possible for us to survive, to have our blimps. And because she said we should give you two of them.”

Dimitry didn’t seem quite as happy about that.

“Oh. Um, we would love to have a blimp, but I can tell you’re not happy about that.”

“You can tell? Are you, then, one of them? The gods?”

“No!” Alan giggled. “I saw it in your face.

“We must find something to give you, in return,” Alan said. “Although I do not know what that might be.”

“You have given us what we need: knowledge that we are not alone. Knowledge that we have friends. The promise that we will remain friends and not be divided by ancient loyalties that have no reason in reality and rationality.

“I don’t know how this works,” Calvin said. “Except it does. This is a satellite phone that can connect with our Command and Control Center. It’s solar powered. I hope we will keep in touch. Someday, we will rebuild the world. And the world we will rebuild will be different from what we have left behind. It will be based on reason and rational thought, on science and not superstition. We know that the gods are real, and that they have powers. But we also know that they are not to be worshiped, but that they are the helpers of humanity.

“We also know that sometime, somehow, we will figure out the scientific explanation behind their power. Until that day comes and forever after, I swear for all those in Refuge Ranch, eternal friendship and aid.”

“For all those in my refuge, which we call убежищем ранчо, I swear eternal friendship and aid. Thank you for the glider. W will be able to copy the design, and expand our little air force.”

“And some day, we will rebuild,” Calvin said.

End

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