Robin Cook - Abduction

The three made their way up the ramp to the door. Both divers had donned the breastplates, helmets, and greaves rather than carry them in their arms. It was enough to be holding the shields, swords, daggers, and crossbow. Perry had tried to talk them out of taking the armor, but they were determined, and he gave up trying to reason with them. Michael and Richard were convinced in their words that the stuff was going to be worth a fortune topside.

To their surprise the dining room was empty.

“That’s odd,” Richard said. “He told me to meet him here.”

“You don’t suppose he’s planning on bugging out of here without us, do you?” Michael questioned.

“I don’t know,” Richard responded. “The idea never occurred to me.”

“He’s not going without us,” Perry assured the two divers. “We just saw the Oceanus still parked where it’s always been, and he’s not going anyplace without that.”

“How about Suzanne’s room?” Michael suggested.

“I’d say that’s a good possibility,” Perry said.

The long walk across the lawn was significantly noisy thanks to the continual clatter of the ancient armor.

“You guys sound ridiculous,” Perry commented.

“We didn’t ask for your opinion,” Richard said.

As they rounded the open end of Suzanne’s cottage they saw Donald, Suzanne, and Harvey sitting in contour chairs near the pool’s edge. It was obvious the atmosphere was tense.

“What’s wrong?” Perry questioned.

“We’ve got a problem,” Donald said. “Suzanne’s not sure we’re doing the right thing.”

“Why not, Suzanne?” Perry asked.

“Because murder is wrong,” Suzanne said. “If we take hostages to the surface world without adaptation, they will die, plain and simple. We brought violence and death here and now we want to escape by it. I say it’s ethically despicable.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t ask to come here,” Perry said hotly. “I don’t like to sound like a broken record, but we’re being held against our will. I think that justifies violence.”

“But that’s confusing ends with means,” Suzanne said. “That’s exactly what we’re supposed to be against.”

“All I know is that I have a family that I miss,” Perry said. “I’m going to see them again come hell or high water!”

“I empathize with you,” Suzanne said. “Truly! And I feel responsible about the whole situation. And it is true we were abducted. But I don’t want to see any more deaths, nor do I want to see Interterra unwittingly destroyed. We’re ethically obligated to negotiate. These people are so peaceful.”

“Peaceful?” Richard questioned. “I’d say boring!”

“I can vouch for that,” Harvey said.

“Perry, this is Harvey Goldfarb,” Donald said.

Perry and Harvey shook hands.

“I don’t know what we’re supposed to negotiate,” Donald said. “Arak made it clear we’re here for good, no buts, ifs, or maybes. A statement like that precludes negotiation.”

“I think we should let a little more time pass,” Suzanne said. “What’s wrong with that? Maybe we will change our minds, or maybe we’ll be able to convince them to alter theirs. We’ve got to remember that we’ve all brought down here our personalities and psychological baggage geared to the world above, plus we’re so accustomed to seeing ourselves as the ‘good guys’ that it’s difficult to realize when we are the monsters.”

“I don’t feel like a monster,” Perry said. “I don’t belong here.”

“Me neither,” Michael said.

“Let me make another point,” Suzanne said. “For the sake of argument, let’s say we manage to get out of here. What happens then? Do we reveal Interterra’s existence?”

“It will be hard not to,” Donald said. “Where would we say we’ve been for the last month or however long it’s been?”

“And what about me?” Harvey said. “I’ve been here for almost ninety years.”

“That’s even harder to explain,” Donald agreed.

“We’d also have to have some explanation where we got all the gold and armor,” Richard said. “ ’Cause this stuff’s going with me.”

“And what about the economic possibilities of our serving as intermediaries?” Perry said. “We could help both sides and end up millionaires many times over. Just the wrist communicators alone will cause a technological sensation.”

“I rest my case,” Suzanne said. “One way or the other we’d be exposing Interterra. Stop and think about our civilization and its exploitive greed. We don’t like to think of ourselves in that light, but it’s true. We are selfish, both as individuals and as nations. There’d be a confrontation without doubt, and as advanced as the Interterran civilization is, with power and weapons we cannot even imagine, it will be a disaster, maybe even the end of the world as far as secondary humans are concerned.”

For several minutes no one spoke.

“I don’t care about all that crap,” Richard said suddenly, breaking the silence. “I want out of here.”

“No question,” Michael chimed in.

“Me, too,” Perry said.

“Ditto,” Donald said. “Once we’re out, we can negotiate with these Interterrans. At least at that point it will be a real negotiation without them dictating to us.”

“What about you, Harvey?” Perry asked.

“I’ve been dreaming about getting out for years,” Harvey said.

“It’s decided, then,” Donald said. “We’re going!”

“Not me,” Suzanne said. “I don’t want any more deaths on my conscience. Maybe it’s because I don’t have any immediate family, but I’m willing to give Interterra a chance. I know I’ve got a lot of adjusting to do, but I like paradise. It’s worth a bit of self-examination.”

“I’m sorry, Suzanne,” Donald said, staring her in the eye. “If we go, you go. Your high moral standards are not going to screw up our plan.”

“What are you going to do, force me to go?” Suzanne demanded irritably.

“Absolutely,” Donald said. “Let me remind you, field commanders have been known to shoot their own men if the men’s behavior threatens to compromise an operation.”

Suzanne didn’t respond. Instead she slowly looked around at the others in the room. Her expression was blank. No one made a motion in her defense.

“Let’s get back to business,” Donald said finally. “Did you get the Luger?”

“We did,” Perry reported. “It was hard to find, but we managed.”

“Let me see it,” Donald said.

As Perry took the pistol out of his tunic pocket, Suzanne bolted from the room. Richard was the first to respond. Dropping what he had in his hands, and disregarding the armor he was wearing, he raced out into the night after her. Thanks to his superb physical shape he was able to close the gap quickly and managed to get hold of Suzanne’s wrist. He pulled her to a stop. Both were panting.

“You’re playing into Donald’s hands,” Richard managed to say between breaths.

“As if I care,” Suzanne replied. “Let me go!”

“He’ll shoot you,” Richard said. “He loves playing this military crap. I’m warning you.”

Suzanne struggled for a moment in an attempt to free herself, but it was soon clear that Richard was not about to let her go. The others arrived and gathered round. Donald was holding the Luger.

“You’re forcing me to act,” Donald said menacingly.

“I hope you realize that.”

“Who is forcing whom?” Suzanne asked scornfully.

“Bring her back inside!” Donald said. “We have to resolve this once and for all.” He started back toward the cottage. The others followed with Richard maintaining an iron grip on Suzanne’s wrist. She tried briefly to struggle but quickly became resigned to be dragged back toward her room.