Toys Read online

  “I’d like to chat,” I told him. “I really need to talk some things through. Like 7–4 Day.”

  “Can’t help you,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m a clone.”

  Like Mom’s, this one appeared to be an exact duplicate-with a beard, hat, and worn-out work clothes. Anticipating my next question, it said, “We take care of most of the chores and require no pay. Slavery at its very best.”

  “Where’s my father then?”

  “Working in the lab. Where else? Nice chatting with you, son.”

  Shaking my head, but smiling at the “slavery” line, I walked down the stairway to the underground lab and found my father sitting in front of a bank of monitors that lined one wall.

  Some of them showed maps of different areas around the globe and contained colored clusters that looked like they represented populations. Others were flashing coded messages.

  “Feeling better?” Dad asked, swinging his chair around to face me.

  “Suppose I did agree to fight against the Elites,” I said. “Then what happens?”

  He pointed to the bank of monitors. “I’m in contact with resistance leaders around the world. We were just discussing you.”

  “Around the world? What are you talking about now? There’s nothing out there but… savages.”

  “That’s what the Elite leadership wants everybody to believe, Hays. Things are actually much more organized on our side than they like to let on.”

  So, more government lies. Supposedly, Elites made up only about 5 percent of the world’s population. But they controlled North America, and their military power kept the rest of the world cowed into submission. The official story was that other continents were crowded with humans, dirty and barbaric, and the only Elites actually allowed to travel there were government and corporate insiders.

  So what was the real story? I suspected that I was about to find out.

  Chapter 47

  I spent the remainder of that evening in the lab with my father, learning the basics of the communications code and the other systems that the human resistance used. The real truth was that I just wanted to spend time with him, possibly get to know him better. Obviously, I hadn’t known before who he was.

  After several hours, Dad stretched and pushed his work chair back wearily.

  “I’m going to get a little rest, Hays,” he said. “I’m getting to be an old fart, and after all, I’m only human.” He smiled at his little joke. But so did I.

  “I’ll stay here. I’m not all that sleepy.” In fact, I was antsy-I wanted to do something to help the humans, especially my mom and dad.

  As he was leaving, my father said, “There’s something else you should think about. Toys might seem like harmless fun to you, as they do to most people, but they can be sinister and very dangerous. I’m not exaggerating for effect. These toys are not what they seem.”

  “How’s that? They’re just harmless entertainment.”

  “No, they’re not. The Elites have been pushing them out into society because they want them to be like a drug-or a cult religion. The very best toys take you away from the real world so you don’t have to deal with it. Elites do have some human qualities, including a modicum of compassion. Most of them would be a lot more concerned about what happens to us if they didn’t spend so much time in toyland. But the leaders want it that way. It’s part of their plan to keep total control. Even over other Elites.”

  He leaned over and kissed the top of my head, the way he’d done at bedtime when I was a little boy. It was very touching, and I fought with myself not to get sentimental and gooey.

  “I love you, son,” he said simply.

  I didn’t say anything back to him. I just couldn’t. I guess I was still too close to my Elite life.

  I watched him trudge away, and it reminded me of what a heavy burden he and my mother had carried all these years-the endless, thankless work they’d done while living in secrecy and in fear of being caught, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the Elites moved to exterminate “the human menace.”

  Which now included me.

  At heart though, I couldn’t help believing that there was nothing I could do to make a difference-human resistance was futile. The Elite population might still be relatively small, but their military and weaponry were so sophisticated that they could eliminate most of the world’s humans in a succession of swift strikes. Then they’d swarm over the globe with their cruel efficiency, finishing off the survivors.

  At least the quandary gave me something to think about-other than the ruin of the perfect life I’d taken for granted and never really understood worth a damn.

  I was still sitting in the lab an hour later when my acute hearing picked up sounds outside that didn’t belong.

  I held my breath, concentrating, trying to figure the noises out.

  Someone was approaching-someones. I counted forty-seven of them-moving stealthily from the bay toward the house, and now fanning out to surround it.

  I jumped out of my chair and sprinted for the stairs-just as an alarm siren started blaring throughout the house.

  “It’s Elites-they’re attacking!” I shouted. “They’re everywhere!”

  Chapter 48

  I rushed upstairs and saw that my mother and father, still in their nightclothes, had already taken up defensive positions at the windows on the main floor. The clones were there too. They all had laser rifles, and Dad tossed me one as I ran into the living room.

  “We’ll hold them off from here, Hays. You get outside. Try to get behind them,” he said. “No mercy. They won’t show any to us.”

  “I know,” I said. “They hate us skunks.” I know exactly what they’re thinking. Because I used to think that way myself.

  My father looked fierce, magnificent, like an old warrior who relished a battle against impossible odds. My mother, too, was calm and fearless; she’d never been more beautiful or impressive than she was right then.

  “Where’s Lucy?” I asked them.

  My mother just shook her head. “She’s probably escaped already, Hays. Lucy can’t be captured here. She’s too important.”

  I hugged them both quickly, then raced out the back of the house and across the lawn. On the way, my enhanced night vision picked out a dozen of the approaching black-clad figures.

  Killers-assassins! They mean to exterminate my family. And me.

  These were highly trained Elite soldiers, and they spotted me too. Blasts of weapon fire lit my path as I ran for the cover of trees.

  Weaving side to side, keeping low to the ground, I barely made it to the shelter of the woods. The terrain there was imprinted in my childhood memory. I knew every tree to hide behind as I prepared my ambush. But there were so many of them, against so few of us. Lucy would have helped-but she was too important to be captured.

  Three commandos had spotted me and were now moving quickly in my direction. Their mistake-or arrogance. A single horizontal sweep with my rifle cut the trio into lumps of smoking flesh.

  I sprinted past the ruined bodies, dodging from tree to tree, picking off a few more Elite soldiers as they appeared. I sensed rapid movement behind me. I barely had time to drop to a crouch as a laser streak flashed past my face, so close it singed my cheek.

  I dropped my rifle and leaped up sideways into a tree crotch. The shooter spun frantically back and forth, trying to spot me again. I dove at him with both hands outstretched. His spine popped as I wrenched his head clear around. It was quite possibly the worst sound I’d ever heard.

  I told myself I had no choice. These Elites are here to slaughter us. I have no allegiance to them. It’s kill-or be killed.

  Chapter 49

  I helped myself to the dead man’s weapon and ran straight toward the main cadre of attackers, who were blitzing my parents’ house with relentless fire. Hard to comprehend-the place where you grew up under a murderous attack like this.

  They were swarming inside, overrunning the place, as I came up
behind them. Unfortunately, I didn’t see my mother or father anywhere. Or Lucy either. The fighting was hand to hand now. Finally, I caught a glimpse of Mom swinging an old cast-iron skillet, braining one of them. She was fighting side by side with her faithful clone.

  Then the unthinkable happened. A tremendous fireball erupted into the sky. It fell and struck the roof of our house. Next came an explosion of flaming timbers and furnishings, the flailing limbs of Elite soldiers, their horrifying cries.

  Their comrades had fired a rocket into the heart of the battle, sacrificing their own without a second thought. That was how Elites fought.

  I stared in horror and disbelief as the burning debris rained down around me.

  “Mom! Dad!” I yelled. “Where are you?”

  It didn’t take me long to find them-two charred corpses, their hands extending toward each other as if they’d been reaching out to touch one last time.

  How could anyone kill these good people? Massacre them? Who would do such a cowardly thing? But I knew the answer to that: Elites had already annihilated hundreds of millions of humans. What were a few more?

  Standing there with my heart breaking, I whispered, “I love you, Dad. I love you, Mom.” I hated myself for not saying it more when they were alive. “You will have your revenge. I promise that-at least that.”

  My God, I had just seen both my parents-dead. I couldn’t make myself think straight, could barely capture a breath.

  Numb with shock-ready to die now myself-I swung around to fight the rest of the Elites. I could see them creeping out of the woods.

  Suddenly, I hated them, hated all Elites-but especially their leader, whoever had planned this cowardly attack.

  Then I saw who it was. On the crest of a nearby hill, Jax Moore was walking toward what remained of our house. He was dressed as a commando, gun in hand, smoking one of his victory cigars.

  I had lost my concentration. A flying body slammed into me and threw me to the ground, gripping me in an iron-tight headlock. I hadn’t seen him coming.

  “Don’t fight me!” Lucy whispered into my ear.

  Chapter 50

  “Jax Moore!” I told her. “He’s behind this.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Not now. This isn’t the time or place, Hays. Come with me!” Lucy took off then-fast. “Hays, come!”

  “Where have you been?” I called, racing behind Lucy as she headed toward the bay. Maybe she could run faster than me? Or was it because my legs felt like nothing right now? I could hardly breathe, and I couldn’t get the image of my murdered parents out of my mind. The tragedy, the outrage. And Jax Moore, that bastard!

  “Killing the commandos-where do you think I’ve been? I just couldn’t kill enough. I finished off that rocket crew-they were about to fire again and take you out. I’m sorry we couldn’t save your mother and father. Or stop to kill that fucker Moore!”

  Yes, so was I-and on top of everything else, now I owed Lucy my life!

  She must have had some kind of signaling device because, as we got close to the water, the gleaming black shape of a car came rising up out of a well-hidden underground chamber. It was the same style as my own car back in New Lake City-a no-nonsense model built for speed and maneuverability.

  “Let me drive,” I said. I needed to drive very fast. I needed to stop seeing the faces of my parents-murdered.

  “You’re in no shape, Hays. You’re riding in the trunk.”

  “What?”

  “If we meet anybody, I smile and wave. I’m just a silly, harmless woman out for a ride. But you look like you’ve been eating babies for dinner-they’d freak out. Besides, you’re all worked up, and you might do something stupid.”

  “I don’t do stupid things,” I said, although a recent list to the contrary popped into my mind.

  “Shut up and get in, Hays. They’re gaining on us. We have seconds to get out of here. Seriously, Hays. Come, or stay here and die.”

  Chapter 51

  I cursed out loud, but then I jumped into the open trunk as Lucy slammed down the lid.

  A moment later, the car shot forward, skimmed the surface of the water for a minute, then landed under expert control on the opposite shore.

  Lucy’s voice came through the alloy barrier: “Don’t worry your pretty little head. I know these back roads cold, and I know exactly where we’re going.”

  “Where’s that?” I called back from the trunk. “Don’t leave me-in the dark.”

  “Canada.”

  “No way!” The Canadian border was at least four hundred miles away. I struggled angrily to sit upright, but succeeded only in banging my head. “You expect me to stay in here for an hour and a half?” I yelled.

  “Longer than that, I’m afraid. Sorry. We’ve got to get across the border station, then on into New Vancouver. There’ll be cars all around us. And police.”

  “I can break out of the trunk in a second,” I warned. “You have no idea.”

  “Go ahead-that’ll get us killed for sure. See what I mean about doing something stupid?”

  I slumped back down again. She was right, of course. We drove the next couple of minutes in silence. I had to admit, she was an expert behind the wheel. I could tell from the way the car cornered-we were moving at close to top ground speed.

  “I loved your parents too, you know.” Lucy finally spoke again. “Sorry if I seem cold, but we don’t have time to grieve right now.”

  That reminded me that her own parents had also been killed by Elites. By that monster Jax Moore. My old boss. Lizbeth’s boss too. And what else was he to my wife?

  I exhaled sadly. “How did we get into this awful mess? The big picture?”

  “Humans made the mess, to start with,” Lucy said. “Elites got that eco-disaster stopped, but now they’re making a worse one. It will give them what they think they want, a sterile, orderly world. But it will leave their kind with a huge weakness-they don’t have much in the way of imagination. Something about all that helpful machinery in their brains. It makes them almost too rational to take the necessary creative risks. You probably didn’t know this, but Elites don’t even design the machines. They have covert facilities where they force human scientists to do it.”

  I’d never even heard a whisper about that-it must have been one of the most closely guarded state secrets. But I didn’t say anything. In the insane new picture of the world I was forming, it made perfect sense.

  “That’s the one thought in all this that gives me a glimmer of satisfaction,” Lucy said. “Without humans, the Elites are probably going to end up dying of boredom. The irony of it is almost poetic.”

  I settled deeper into the trunk, which wasn’t actually all that uncomfortable. It was the recent memories in my head that were torture-images of my murdered mother and father, repeating themselves over and over. Images of Lizbeth and our daughters. Would I ever see them again? Finally, an image of Jax Moore smoking that victory cigar of his.

  “I don’t suppose you can think of anything cheerful to talk about,” I said. I sure couldn’t.

  “Well-do you remember, when you were five, playing a game with a little girl?” Her voice was softer now.

  I frowned-it seemed an odd question. But I tried to think back.

  “What kind of game?” I asked. “Give me a little more to go on.”

  “It was on the beach at your parents’ house. She’d find small stones in the sand and bring them to you, and you’d build them up into a castle. The two of you would do it over and over, building a new castle every day. Never tiring of the game.”

  A flicker of memory crossed my mind. A towheaded, blue-eyed toddler hurrying toward me with a few stones clutched in her tiny fists, watching with solemn fascination as I fitted them together into a crude wall or tower, oftentimes directing the castle’s construction, then tottering off to fetch another handful.

  “That was you?” I asked. “That pretty little blond girl?”

  “That was me, Hays. And you. I had such a crush on you.
When you were five.”

  Chapter 52

  Unfortunately, the action and drama wasn’t stopping. How could it with President Jacklin’s plan against the humans under way? An hour later, Lucy jumped out of the car and hurried toward two grizzled pilots who were about to climb into a jet parked on the tarmac. The locale was a small private airport just outside New Vancouver that operated luxury aircraft for Elite corporate executives and military officers with special clearance to travel into Human Wasteland.

  I was still crowded in the car trunk, watching through a slightly open lid.

  “Hey, could you guys give a girl a lift?” she called to them as she approached.

  They stopped and turned, looking amused at what they saw. While they stared at Lucy, I eased out of the trunk and moved around behind them.

  “Where you going, sweetheart?” the older of the two said.

  Lucy had both hands on her hips, and the top buttons of her blouse were undone. Nothing too understated about that; nothing too understated about Lucy, period.

  “I’m not real particular. Anywhere but here. You follow me, Captain?”

  “We’re not supposed to carry unauthorized passengers,” the younger one said. He had a close, army-style haircut, looked buff, and was definitely checking her out.

  “People do a lot of things they’re not supposed to,” Lucy answered back. “Or so they tell me.”

  The older one laughed out loud. “Got yourself in a little trouble?”

  “Let’s just say I need to relocate-quickly-and I’m flat broke. That give you the picture?”

  “Well, it’s pretty tight up in the cockpit, but we could probably sneak you in.”

  “I’ll be fine. I can be very flexible.”

  “I’m not sure about this,” the younger pilot said nervously. “We could get in trouble, Mel. Couldn’t we?”