When Life Turned Purple (8 page)

Russ gave a wry laugh. “Yeah, me too.”

“Because,” Lia continued, “if it really is extraterrestrial or extra-dimensional or some other unknown, how can we deal with it? We wouldn’t be able to predict its actions or know how to fight it if necessary. We can’t communicate with it or protect ourselves from it. And what are its intentions? Why did it come here? And why now?”

Russ nodded. “Those people who automatically assume that it’s this peaceful higher being—don’t they remind you of all the moonies who got fried by the aliens in
Independence Day
?”

Lia laughed and then couldn’t stop laughing, but it wasn’t normal laughter. There was a hysterical edge to it and it convulsed her whole body. But Russ understood the need to blow off the tension, so he just sat by her without speaking until she finally collapsed on the sofa.

“Feel better?” Russ said.

Lia gave him a weary smile. “Yeah, I do, actually.”

“So what do we do now? Want to take turns keeping watch?”

Lia nodded, pursing her lips. “Sleep is important—especially when you’re afraid to sleep. The body and mind especially need it then.” She leaned forward again, her elbows on her knees, her wavy black hair falling over her arms. “Let’s think logically. If this thing managed to come here over a long distance, like through another dimension or something, and it has managed to remain stationary in our gravitational orbit—an impossible feat, by the way—yet we detect no gravitational pull on
us
from it, and it’s hardy enough to withstand all the solar radiation and lack of oxygen, plus all the micrometeoroids—”

“The what?”

“Micrometeoroids are tiny particles of rock in space that weigh less than a gram.”

“Like dust?”

“No, interplanetary dust is something else. Micrometeoroids are ancient orbiting particles. They don’t sound like much, but they are one of the major obstacles to space exploration. Any ship traveling through space would be under constant impact by micrometeoroids, which would constantly erode their outer shields. And how to always upkeep and repair that in space with limited resources on a long-distance flight?”

Russ raised his eyebrows nodded. “So how did the Millennium Falcon manage?”

Lia gave a small laugh. “Oh, those futuristic sci-fi ships generally utilize special energy shields to get around that issue. Anyway, ever notice how often it was in the shop for repairs?”

“Okay,” said Russ as he got to his feet and started pacing. “So, we either have nothing to fear from these things or we do, but can’t do anything about it—at least not yet.”

“Right,” said Lia.

“So keeping guard all night won’t do anything useful.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

Russ stopped and faced Lia. “And what about people?”

“People?”

“People are having all sorts of reactions to this.” Russ frowned. “The one type the news didn’t show is the type that feels like the end of the world means there’s nothing to lose—or the type that feels like it would be a good time to take advantage of all the distraction.”

Lia folded her hands and brought them to her lips. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said.

“How fast do you think the police are going to show up with this thing hanging over?” said Russ. “After all, they’re people, too. Maybe they want to stay with their families until this gets sorted out?”

“But so far the evidence shows—”

“Your average cop is a good deal more cynical than your average citizen. Especially city cops, they’ve developed high levels of wariness and caution—they’re constantly on the lookout, even if they don’t mean to be and there’s no need to be.”

Lia’s hands dropped to her lap as she nodded. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Russ went to the double doors of the porch and pulled them shut, then unplugged the refrigerator and dragged it over to stand against the doors. Using an extension cord, he plugged it back in. Lia watched him for a moment, then she got up to lock and bolt the door.

“This won’t stop an intruder,” Russ said, “but it will give us a couple moments of advance notice. I’ll call tomorrow for burglar bars.”

“What about your store?” Lia asked.

“I’ve got sliding bars; you just don’t see them because I don’t use them. I’ve been relying on the alarm system instead. But I had the bars installed a while ago for protection in the event of an earthquake or something.”

“You want to go there now and cage your store?”

“And leave you here alone?”

They gazed into each other’s eyes.

“I’ll come with you,” she said.

Russ shook his head. “I’ll risk it for tonight. Hardly anyone is out right now. We could just be putting ourselves in danger as the only available target.”

“What about your gun?” asked Lia softly.

Russ shook his head. “I’d rather not use it if I don’t have to. Anyway, you get a guy hyped up on adrenalin—or adrenalin and drugs—and even a bullet won’t always drop him so fast. Heck, even ten bullets won’t always do the trick.” He paused, his fists on his waist. “And it’s hard shooting when
you’re
fighting an adrenalin rush of your own.” He paused. “I’m great at the range, but I’ve never needed to shoot on the move while someone’s firing at me.”

“I never thought of all that,” said Lia. “But it makes sense.”

“Guns are great when you really need one. But they’re not perfect. Nothing is.”

Russ moved the sofa against the door. Then he and Lia went to the window and took one last glance at the purple bubble. It floated up there, looking sparkly and translucent in the quiet darkness of space.

For some reason, looking at it made Russ think of Emma. But why should it? He gave his head a shake to thrust her memory away.

He and Lia went to bed, and he placed the gun on the nightstand next to him. The gun was loaded and Russ pondered whether to leave it like that or to leave the magazine in the drawer. He figured it only took a second to get it together, but in the heat of a confrontation....

He left it in.

Morning came and the first thing Russ did when he woke up was look out the window. In the sunlight, he could make out a purple sparkling outline in the sky. Russ exhaled through pursed lips. He’d been half hoping the thing would be gone in the morning.

“There are actually two of them,” Lia said from where she sat at her computer in the corner of the bedroom. “But like I said, they’re still not orbiting us.”

Russ rubbed the sleep from his face. “On the news, they were saying just one,” he said.

Lia nodded. “They don’t want people to panic.”

Russ snorted. “People won’t know? No one has Instagram or Twitter on the other side of the world?”

“They do,” said Lia. “And all the alternative media sites or full of pics and demands to know why it’s all being kept hush-hush.”

“Good question,” said Russ, throwing back the covers and swinging his legs off the bed. “Why try and hide something that’s impossible to hide?”

“I told you,” said Lia. “The panic. No system is ready to deal with mass panic.”

“How can this help?” Russ looked at her. “It’s so obvious that we’re being lied to.”

Lia gave him a wry smile. “Many of the lies have been obvious. And people believed them. People have gotten used to believing even blatant lies.”

Russ shook his head as he got up to get dressed.

As Russ heated up some water for coffee, he deliberated whether to go to the store. Looking out the living room window, he saw that people still weren’t out on the streets much and seemed to be holed up at home watching the news and surfing the Internet for more information. He left the refrigerator in front of porch doors.

A mug of hot black coffee in his hand, Russ gazed out the window again and saw that while people weren’t on the street much, cars were. Then the sound of voices and suitcases clunking against the stairs brought Russ and Lia to press their ears against the door as their neighbors spoke on their cell phones.

“No, I’m just gonna drive,” said one. “Mom, I don’t want to fly with that thing in the air. It’s too freaky. I just can’t.” Pause. “Yeah, I know, but…I’ll just take the back roads or something. Oh, for—I forgot about the GPS. I think I’ve got a map in my car. And the Internet....”

Other neighbors clunking down the stairs were having the same types of conversations.

“Are we going to be alone here?” said Lia.

“It looks like it,” said Russ. “Maybe.” He tried to think if all his neighbors were just single and couples with families they needed to get back to. He wasn’t sure. He never got to know them so well. “The less people here, the better,” he said. “These aren’t people who are prepared. If things got desperate, well, it’s better for us if they go.”

“You know what?” he said to Lia. “I’ll go and cage up my store. Then I’ll come back.

But he wasn’t sure whether to leave his gun with her or not. His handgun was a G30S, whose size was great for carrying, but its harsh recoil wasn’t for most women or novice shooters—both of which Lia was.

He had a second weapon, an M-4 rifle—which was actually more of a woman’s gun than the G30S—but Russ didn’t want to tell her about that one yet.

“I’m here and under lock and key,” said Lia. “It’s daytime and not much seems to be happening. You go ahead.”

So Russ took the gun. He also took some supplies.

As he drove, he didn’t seem signs of vandalism anywhere. He did notice crowds around the supermarkets and long lines from the privately owned markets. People looked harassed or exasperated, and some people were yelling. Everyone kept looking up at the sky. But that was all.

He called to check up on Lia, but the line was busy. She was probably talking to her department, but he still felt tense about not really knowing.

Upon arriving at the store, Russ stashed the food supplies where he kept a small cache of money in a hidden place in the back. He didn’t know if he and Lia would need to hide out at the store at some point or if they would need to bug out and hopefully have time to stop by the store first. Then he took out some gear like tents, good shoes in different sizes, and survival equipment. He called Lia again, and this time, she answered to tell him she was trying to find out more about what was going on. So it was exactly like he’d thought, but still—it was good to know for sure.

Then he pulled the metal bars around the store and locked them.

Before getting back in his car, Russ took the steering wheel lock and the tire lock out of the trunk and tossed them into the passenger seat. He looked up at the sky. It was still there, of course.

Evan called. “Have you been out shopping?” he asked.

“Not today,” said Russ.

“Supermarkets are understaffed because some staff hasn’t shown up for work and the privately owned stores are only accepting cash. And their lines are trailing down the street.”

“Already?”

“Hey, this isn’t just the lights going out or something you think the government will be able to take care of. This is some mysterious entity hovering over our heads—literally.”

“Good point,” said Russ. “Wait—I thought you had a natural disaster stash.”

“I do, but you can never have enough. Especially for the end of the world.”

“Yeah, this is bigger than a collapse or earthquake or something, eh?”

“Think it’s a hologram spawned by the global elites like some sites are saying?”

“Since when are you into conspiracy theories?”

“Since they sound a lot more comforting than some scary entity from who-know-where waiting for who-knows-what in our sky.”

I don’t know. But me and Lia sure hope so.” He paused to look around, then said, “Listen. You know that you can always come to us if you need anything.”

“Same here, Big Bro.” Now Evan paused. “Edison, too?”

Russ tightened his lips. “That depends. But probably, yeah.”

They said goodbye and Russ noticed that Evan didn’t ask him on what it depended.

Russ decided to head straight home with all the gear. He might go out again at night to a local store to pick up even more stuff.

He called Lia again to tell her he was on his way. The line was busy, but then she picked up.

“Russ?”

“Yeah, baby. I’m on my way home.”

She sounded cross. “You keep calling me and I don’t know if you’re calling for help, if something happened, or just to check up....”

“I’ve just been checking up on you, sweets.”

She sighed. “I’m trying to get the latest. But if you keep calling, I have to keep answering instead of getting through to them....”

Russ felt the heat rising from his chest to his head. “Look,” he said, his jaw clenching. “I need to know that you’re okay.”

He heard her take a deep breath. “I know,” she said. “I’m sorry. You’re coming home now?”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“Okay.”

Russ cursed as he hung up the phone. If this was how she was going to be, how was he going to survive being holed up with her?

A humvee shot out in front of him and he slammed the breaks just in time. He cursed out that guy, too. Then he took a deep breath to steady himself. Getting worked up over everyone’s behavior was bad for survival. And as things were already starting to deteriorate, he needed to stay alert.

He parked the car, then locked the steering wheel and a tire. He kept looking over his shoulder. Then he collected all the gear and headed into the building.

He waited for Lia to open the metal door guard and he came in.

She was on the phone, but she nodded to him and gave him an eyebrow-wiggle as a greeting. Russ locked the door guard and then called the company he got the store cage from. He wanted bars on the window.

“We’re book for the whole next week,” came the answer.

“I’ll pay extra,” said Russ.

“Everyone’s saying that and we’re raking in money hand over fist. Everyone’s making orders now.”

Russ said goodbye.

Then he took his welding tools and metal scrap from the laundry room and got to work on the windows.

Lia came over. “What will the landlord say?” she asked.

“I don’t give a damn,” he said. “If this all just blows over, I’ll work it out with him. But until then....”

She watched him for a moment, then said, “What are all those boots for?”

“An extra pair for me and you—figure out which ones fit you right—and then the rest are for bartering.”

She stood there watching him with her arms crossed.

He finished one window by making an X out of iron poles. As he stood back to scrutinize his work, Lia said, “Are we going to continue getting all irritable with the each other because we care about each too much to let each other out of sight for more than a minute?”

He turned to look at her. “You weren’t worried about me. I was the one calling you.”

“I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t know if you would be in the middle of something or what.”

She stood there in her white fleece pajamas, her shoulders sagging, looking unhappier than he had ever seen her.

“C’mere, baby,” he said.

She moved toward him and he reached out his arms to hug her to his chest.

“Listen. I don’t think we’ll be going out much anymore, either one us. But next time we do, we’ll make up some kind of plan before. Okay?”

She nodded and her eyes warmed into a small smile.

“Oh, wait,” he said. “Let me call a friend of mine about a door.”

He picked up his phone and checked his address book.

“A door?” said Lia.

“Yeah. I want a stronger door.”

Russ dialed.

“Hey, what’s going on?” said Steve.

“I need a door.”

“Don’t say anything, man, but I’m bugging out. No more orders.”

“Maybe you’ve got a spare in the size I need? Like a canceled order, maybe?” Russ suggested.

“How’re you gonna pay me?”

“I got cash.”

“I’m not taking cash. I don’t know how much cash is gonna be worth. At the end of the day, cash is just paper promise notes.”

Russ thought for a moment. He didn’t want to give up his food or water. “I got some hiking gear. Shoes, tents, stuff like that.

Steve didn’t answer right away. Then he said, “Tell me what kind of door you’re looking for, measurements, and all that.”

Russ told him and after some discussion, Steve said, “I can accommodate you. I’ll come by on my way to bugging out.”

“When’s that?”

“Soon.”

And he hung up.

Russ went to another window to start working on it. “Any news?”

“Not really,” said Lia. “Another few satellites busted, but that’s all.”

“What’d the Space Station say?”

“They can’t really see much more than we can. Just that there isn’t any radiation or emissions. And that it’s not moving.”

“You keep saying that. Is it a problem that it’s stuck in place?”

Lia frowned. “Something as large as the moon—not to mention its sheer mass—is caught in our gravitational pull. Asteroids with the mass of a large mountain going twenty, twenty-five kilometers per second can get pulled by our gravity into a collision with Earth. The ISS and the satellites are pretty big and heavy, and they get flung around our orbit. But this is totally unaffected by our gravity....” The furrows in Lia’s brow deepened. “Yet it looks so light. It really does look like a big sparkly translucent bubble. So what gives?”

Russ shrugged, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling. “Does the Space Station think it’s a light show? Like a hologram?”

Lia shook her head. “No. As far as anyone can tell, it’s real.”

“Could they be in on a conspiracy?”

“I guess. But we’ve got people here who know the people up there really well. It doesn’t seem like any conspiracy.”

Russ gave her a short nod. As he worked on this window, he kept seeing the purple thing. And he thought of Emma and a little bean-sized baby all curled up. He concentrated on looking at his work and not at the sky bubble.

He finished that window and his phone rang.

“Hey, Steve, what’s up?”

“I’m here with the door.”

Russ crossed the living room to the window overlooking the parking lot and saw Steve’s van below. “I’m coming,” he said.

Russ had Lia keep watch in the apartment doorway while he went down, every sense alert in the carpeted stairwell. He approached Steve’s car and Steve opened his window a crack.

“It’s in the back on top. The back’s unlocked.”

The car was still running and Russ tried not to breathe in too much exhaust as he went and lugged out the door. Then he shut the back firmly. Trying not to drag the heavy door, he came back to Steve’s window. “What do you want?”

Steve told him and Russ heaved the door with him into the building and up the stairs. He grabbed the shoes Steve wanted and a water filtration and purification device, and a tent.