Nathan Hystad: New Threat

When the commotion was over, I turned to see Carey and Mary beside me.

“What’s their rush?” she asked.

Magnus was now in the middle of the street yelling at the convoy of emergency vehicles, and Nat was dragging her bag to us on the sidewalk.

“Good thing I didn’t pack my favorite pants,” she joked, eyes conveying her humor. It was so nice to see her making wisecracks, considering the first few days I’d known her, she was hard and mute.

“The sirens are still loud, so they can’t be far from here. Let’s check it out, it might be coming from the White House,” I said, looking down the way and almost seeing the White House grounds. I’d almost forgotten we were only a half-mile from there.

We made our way down the road, the street getting busier with people as we approached the gated greenspace. There was a large group at the front gates, a man talking passionately into a bullhorn. Carey sidled up to my feet as we stopped, not liking the noise or the crowds. I knelt and petted him, scratching him on the ear, and assured him everything was okay.

“What do you think this is all about?” Mary asked our group.

Magnus shrugged. “Since the beginning of time, people have been gathering in town squares to complain about things. Why should that change now?”

We moved a little closer and could see the gates were closed. I tried to guess at the ever-growing crowd, and put it at around a thousand, but more were streaming in all the time. Someone had let the people of the city know there was something of interest going on, and I didn’t like the feeling the crowd was giving me. Finally, I saw some signs being thrust into the sky with angry vigor. Don’t forget the Event! Down with Dalhousie! Genocide is never okay! That last one stung me, and my breathing picked up. It was public knowledge that the Kraski had been destroyed, though the details of exactly how remained blurry. My name had been tossed around, of course, and I’d been asked for months by reporters and people on the street about my take on it. I refused to comment. Not because I felt regret for doing it, but because they would never understand that I had to do it. I didn’t have a choice. It was humans or Kraski. I chose my people, and it was something I would have to live with for the rest of my life. I was at peace with it.

Mary must have seen it too, because she reached over and touched my arm. I smiled at her briefly and tossed a look at Magnus. He was there with me. We turned the Shield on together, killing the last of a race. A bond from something so big, we would always be connected by it. He looked back, his lips pressed tightly together. He gave me a quick wink, like it was no big deal, and I really liked that about him.

“Hey, guys, check out that one,” Magnus said, pointing at a large green sign. Uranus or bust . At least some people still had a sense of humor.

As we moved through the people, I finally saw the man speaking into the horn. He was on a homemade wooden pedestal so everyone could see him. He wore his hair in a man-bun, and I could see the passion for what he was saying burn out through his eyes. He was an intense man.

“…Dalhousie is just like the rest of them, and maybe even worse. She brings with her the open air of concern and caring, but then gives preferential treatment to the elite, and if you break down her platform, she’s bringing the USA into a communist state!” he yelled into the speaker, and was cheered on by most of those around him.

I nudged up to Magnus and spoke just loud enough for him to hear through the crowd noise. “I don’t like the feel of this. Keep an eye out for a weapon. Our people are on edge these days, and this is just the kind of scene where someone will be pushed to do something they normally wouldn’t. And if they have the crowd behind them, it could get ugly.”

“I hear you, brother.” He gestured to his ankle, and I saw his pant leg was just a little more pushed out on that side. He was carrying. Probably not technically legal in the new D.C., but he was, after all, appointed to the Earth Defense Unit by the president herself. It made me wish I was carrying something too, all of a sudden. If he was, that guaranteed Natalia was too.

Mary pointed past the people. An entourage was coming from the White House. Soon I made out the dark hair of the president as she was flanked by numerous Secret Service agents. We were about thirty feet from her, but I could see her unease at having to deal with this. If I had to guess, she was advised to let them be and ignore the protesters. From my short interactions with her, I could tell she was passionate and thought her cause was just. She would do anything to have buy-in from the masses, and probably thought talking to them here would help do that. Looking around at the angry people, I wasn’t so sure.

She stopped and a podium was dropped off by a van, with a built-in microphone and speaker. Her voice came through crisp and clear in opposition to the guy’s cheap hand-held horn.

“Good morning, everyone. Times are changed now, and I’m not one of your old leaders. I want this to be a time of peace among all of us. We have to work together to accomplish this. The reality is, we have more to worry about than squabbles amongst ourselves. We must look to the skies and defend our home. To do this, we need to be a solid, cohesive planet,” she said, pausing as everyone had turned their attention to her.

“Then why is my brother locked up? He didn’t do anything up there. I know it.” The man turned to her as he spoke. Now his anger was coming a little clearer.

“We have dealt with the crimes during the days of the Event the best we could. Many people were hurt, raped, killed… I don’t know what you brother did, but we’re confident in our system. While it wasn’t one hundred percent effective, we had no choice but to punish those who harmed others during that strenuous time. What happened to us all gave no one the right to hurt another person. If anything, it gave the world an opportunity to help those in need, and many people did rise to the occasion.” Dalhousie was nailing it.

The man fidgeted from side to side, and he got closer to the gate, moving off his box. “You’re wrong. You’re wrong about everything.” He was only about fifteen feet from her now, and I could see the Secret Service guys tensing. Magnus had moved around and reached for his ankle. With no one else noticing, he’d slid his gun from his ankle to his belt on his back. Nat moved the other way, and they were on opposite sides of the guy. A shot fired, only it came from behind us, not from the bullhorn guy. Dalhousie was being brought down by her guards, and Magnus tackled the man at the gate. Another shot rang out, and Mary took off, leaving me with Carey. The crowd was on the ground very quickly, Mae and I among them. Twenty yards away, on top of a black van, was the shooter. I saw a pylon go flying toward him, and then Mary was climbing the hood of the van, rushing at him like a bull at a red cape.

Finally, I shook off the shock and passed Carey’s leash to Mae, running to the back of the van. He landed hard on the ground, and his rifle went flying. The van started to move, the driver evidently not wanting to get caught alongside the shooter. I was on the gun in a heartbeat, and Mary was jumping off the speeding van, rolling as she hit the ground. Holding the rifle at the man’s chest, I walked backward to make sure Mary was okay.

She was on her feet in moments, rubbing dust off her pants. “Thanks for the backup, Dean.” She smiled hard at me. By then, the Secret Service were all around us, one holding a gun at the two of us. I turned the rifle around and held it out butt first.

“I’ll be your backup anytime, if you want to take the climbing and jumping role,” I said, suddenly wishing we’d never made the trip to D.C.