The Reincarnation

Grey’s Army called the Lab with the news. The corpse’s car was at another motel. The corpse was in one of the rooms. Dumbfounded, Grey had them stay put, and not let themselves be known. He told them to wait for him.

Grey didn’t bother with Dr. Persey. He wasn’t there when they found the corpse, and he wasn’t there now. As far as Grey was concerned, the good doctor had nothing to offer him, especially an explanation about a dead guy that could drive.

David, Laura, and Donna drove to Donna’s house. David was amazed at how quiet the ride was. The car ran on hydrogen, Donna explained.

Laura was right. David did like it there. The cabin was among pines and maples alongside a lake. It was nestled into the Earth so well it was hard to see where the contours of the house ended and the rhythms of nature began. David noticed that the conifers dominated the area, but the deciduous trees were doing well; survival of the fittest in a particular ecological niche, David thought, the maxim everyone always tried to abbreviate.

Calling it a cabin was modest. It was two stories high and built of rough logs. The picture was perfect to David’s eyes. Before he was suspended, lots of places had looked like this, but after the harrowing landscape he had passed through on the way up there, the sight particularly sparkled.

Over dinner they talked. Donna explained her lifestyle when they were almost finished. “The community I belong to is called the Movement. Basically, a bunch of us got sick of the U.S. awhile back and headed for the hills – literally.” She laughed.

Laura and David joined her. They continued eating as she explained. “We bought a bunch of land up here in Canada, and figured the best way to protect it was to live on it, defending it if necessary. We live ‘off the grid’ – generating our own electricity. We get our water from wells, compost all our waste, and grow our own food. We’re a pretty self-reliant group.” She paused to lift a forkful of salad to her mouth.

Chewing and swallowing, she went on. “And even though we don’t rely on the normal support mechanisms of society, we do rely heavily on each other. By networking with some of my friends, I can probably get you two safe passage to anywhere you want to go.”

“Well, I...” David started, glancing toward Laura. She had passed out in her chair.

Donna motioned with her hands toward the living room, smiling, and David nudged Laura awake. He led her to the futon, which she quickly crawled onto.

David followed Donna into the kitchen. “Can I help you clean up?”

“No, get some sleep. We’ll make plans tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Donna. I mean really; thank you. I don’t know what we would have done without you. Where we would have gone.”

Donna smiled. “Glad to help, David. Now get some sleep.”

David went back into the living room and sat on the futon. He stared at the lake. He felt a now-familiar sensation, a pulling at his lower chest. It felt as if someone, or something, was waiting for him to fall asleep. Waiting, because then they, or it, could awaken.

He had felt other odd sentiments since he had woken up from the vitrifier. At first he thought they were temporary – side-effects of the experiment, perhaps. Then he had gotten into this situation with Laura, and tried to pass it off as part of that. But lying down, he realized neither of these explanations were enough.

Mainly, he felt a confidence he had never felt before he was suspended, a confidence he had always lacked. It felt good. His mind felt strong. When Donna was talking, he understood completely. There was no dazed feeling, like the kind he had always felt when taking in too much new information at once. And the press conference – he wasn’t nervous at all, actually enjoyed it.

He heard Donna finish up in the kitchen and ascend the stairs to the loft that was the second floor. He prepared for sleep to take him. The pulling sensation started in his lower chest and radiated outward.

It wasn’t entirely uncomfortable.