Read Online We Had Flags (Toxic World Book 3) by Sean McLachlan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sean McLachlan
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facing The Doctor’s own. The black man took a couple of steps forward, stopped when one of the New City guards took a threatening step towards him, and put up his hands again.
“Peace,” the black man said. “Peace and goods. Yours we want and we go.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Clyde said.
“Put that gun down!” The Doctor said, batting the barrel of Clyde’s M16 just as he was raising it.
Paranoid idiot, he assumes every stranger is an enemy, The Doctor fumed, then had to concede to himself that in this history of New City, the vast majority had been.
The black man shifted uneasily. He traded several quick sentences with the man in gold braiding.
“I name Gebre Selassie,” he said. “Habasha Tigray. Speak forth Admiral Zeng He ship. Captain Wang.”
“I am having trouble understanding you,” The Doctor said slowly and clearly. “We want peace. Where are you from?”
Gebre Selassie’s face clouded with confusion until the final sentence, when it brightened with understanding.
“I Habasha Tigray. Red Sea man. Captain Wang and ship men Sinos.”
“Sinos?”
“You call China. Chinese.”
There was a staccato clicking as all along the line as the guards snapped off their safeties and raised their M16s. An instant later the sailors raised their AK-47s.
CHAPTER SIX
“Why are we running?”
Pablo tried to keep up with Jessica and Zach. The stink coming from Toxic Bay made him want to toss his cookies. The mask wasn’t helping at all anymore.
“You want to get caught sneaking off?” Jessica said. She sounded like she wanted to toss her cookies too.
They passed through the hills, making a wide detour away from the main trail. Pablo wasn’t sure, but he thought they’d end up in the farmland east of the Burbs. He hoped they didn’t get lost.
After a time, they got far enough into the hills that the air grew cleaner. They sat on some boulders and caught their breath.
“Where is that ship from?” Pablo asked.
“From across the sea,” Jessica said.
“So that’s who I was talking to?”
Zach looked surprised. “You were talking to them?”
Jessica laughed. “Well I couldn’t talk to them myself, could I? What if my dad recognized my voice?”
“Your dad has a radio too?” Pablo asked.
“That was his radio. But he probably has more. He’s got lots of stuff.”
He remembered Deputy Andrews saying that numbers were sometimes used to tell where places were on old maps. “So he told you to bring the ship here? Is that what those numbers were for?”
“That’s right. But we used different numbers, remember?”
Pablo scratched his head. “But why?”
“You ask too many questions, kid,” Zach said.
“You’re a kid too.”
Zach sat up straighter. “I’m a man.”
Pablo ignored him and turned back to Jessica.
“Why did we give them different numbers?”
“They’re called coordinates,” she said.
“Why did we give them different coordinates?”
Jessica frowned and looked him straight in the eye.
“Because I want to stay here.”
They got up and continued to walk. Pablo didn’t ask any more questions. Jessica didn’t look like she wanted to answer any more questions.
But he had so many! Who were those people? Where did the ship come from? How did they get a ship going anyway? When was he going to meet the radio guy?
He knew all about old ships from the movie nights at Roy’s bar. They had sailors in white suits and they sailed to beautiful islands with funny trees called palms and they had little lakes on board so people wearing special underwear could go swimming. Those ships were called cruisers. Adults went on them to fall in love. There were freighters too. The ship that came into Toxic Bay looked like a freighter. Back in the Old Times they carried all sorts of stuff all around the world. They were like a great big floating harvest trade fair.
He wondered where they were from. One of his books had a map of the world with
“Peace,” the black man said. “Peace and goods. Yours we want and we go.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Clyde said.
“Put that gun down!” The Doctor said, batting the barrel of Clyde’s M16 just as he was raising it.
Paranoid idiot, he assumes every stranger is an enemy, The Doctor fumed, then had to concede to himself that in this history of New City, the vast majority had been.
The black man shifted uneasily. He traded several quick sentences with the man in gold braiding.
“I name Gebre Selassie,” he said. “Habasha Tigray. Speak forth Admiral Zeng He ship. Captain Wang.”
“I am having trouble understanding you,” The Doctor said slowly and clearly. “We want peace. Where are you from?”
Gebre Selassie’s face clouded with confusion until the final sentence, when it brightened with understanding.
“I Habasha Tigray. Red Sea man. Captain Wang and ship men Sinos.”
“Sinos?”
“You call China. Chinese.”
There was a staccato clicking as all along the line as the guards snapped off their safeties and raised their M16s. An instant later the sailors raised their AK-47s.
CHAPTER SIX
“Why are we running?”
Pablo tried to keep up with Jessica and Zach. The stink coming from Toxic Bay made him want to toss his cookies. The mask wasn’t helping at all anymore.
“You want to get caught sneaking off?” Jessica said. She sounded like she wanted to toss her cookies too.
They passed through the hills, making a wide detour away from the main trail. Pablo wasn’t sure, but he thought they’d end up in the farmland east of the Burbs. He hoped they didn’t get lost.
After a time, they got far enough into the hills that the air grew cleaner. They sat on some boulders and caught their breath.
“Where is that ship from?” Pablo asked.
“From across the sea,” Jessica said.
“So that’s who I was talking to?”
Zach looked surprised. “You were talking to them?”
Jessica laughed. “Well I couldn’t talk to them myself, could I? What if my dad recognized my voice?”
“Your dad has a radio too?” Pablo asked.
“That was his radio. But he probably has more. He’s got lots of stuff.”
He remembered Deputy Andrews saying that numbers were sometimes used to tell where places were on old maps. “So he told you to bring the ship here? Is that what those numbers were for?”
“That’s right. But we used different numbers, remember?”
Pablo scratched his head. “But why?”
“You ask too many questions, kid,” Zach said.
“You’re a kid too.”
Zach sat up straighter. “I’m a man.”
Pablo ignored him and turned back to Jessica.
“Why did we give them different numbers?”
“They’re called coordinates,” she said.
“Why did we give them different coordinates?”
Jessica frowned and looked him straight in the eye.
“Because I want to stay here.”
They got up and continued to walk. Pablo didn’t ask any more questions. Jessica didn’t look like she wanted to answer any more questions.
But he had so many! Who were those people? Where did the ship come from? How did they get a ship going anyway? When was he going to meet the radio guy?
He knew all about old ships from the movie nights at Roy’s bar. They had sailors in white suits and they sailed to beautiful islands with funny trees called palms and they had little lakes on board so people wearing special underwear could go swimming. Those ships were called cruisers. Adults went on them to fall in love. There were freighters too. The ship that came into Toxic Bay looked like a freighter. Back in the Old Times they carried all sorts of stuff all around the world. They were like a great big floating harvest trade fair.
He wondered where they were from. One of his books had a map of the world with
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