With the help of the outlander, rescue work which should have taken days had taken hours. Colonel Kwan was exhausted, but he knew the death toll would have been much higher if they had been forced to rely on their own devices.
Five schools had collapsed, and despite the strangers help, they’d found all too many bodies that should not have been there. The media had gotten wind of what was happening and they had been filming.
To Colonel Kwan’s surprise, orders from above were to allow the journalists to do their work. It wasn’t what he was used to, but as the focus seemed to be on the brightly clad stranger, he wasn’t worried.
The army did its work whether or not anyone knew about it.
He’d already had several calls from his superiors about the stranger. They had been initially suspicious, but Colonel Kwan had been emphatic in his support of the stranger. Children were living who would have died lightless and alone.
The last call had been more than an hour ago, and he could tell from the tone of it that his superiors’ attitudes were changing. Doubtlessly they were seeing the live news footage and they were seeing what he was.
They needed the stranger for as long as they could keep him.
A private tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and took the heavy phone he was handed. Lifting it to his ear, he listened.
Moments later he grimaced at the news he was receiving. He’d been so focused on the damage to his home town, that he’d ignored any reports about the wider scope of the problem. His job was to save these teenagers right now. Strategy and planning was left to those further up the chain of command.
He murmured, acknowledging that he understood.
The epicenter was in Wenchuan, and according to his superiors, roads were blocked and damaged, bridges had been washed out and destroyed, and heavy rains had kept the rescuers from getting where they needed to go. No one knew exactly how bad the situation was, but consensus was that it was going to be very bad.
He grimaced again as he felt the ground shake. Already there had been aftershocks, and they couldn’t be making the situation any better.
As he was the one who had been working with the stranger, it had suddenly become his problem. His superiors were asking the one thing of him that he hadn’t expected.
They were telling him to ask the stranger for help.
Returning the telephone to the private, he turned slowly and headed up the pile of rubble, watching his footing carefully.
“Daifu,” he began. He didn’t know the man’s name and he was unsure of his title. A simple “sir” didn’t seem respectful enough. The term meant “great man” although it had a more colloquial use.
“I’m not a doctor,” the man said, turning to him. He smiled, although the expression didn’t reach his eyes. “though at times like this I wish I was.”
“My superiors have expressed their appreciation for the great work you have done here,” Colonel Kwan said.
“It’s nothing more than any man would have done,” the man said.
Colonel Kwan hesitated, then said, “I must ask more of you.”
As he explained the situation, he could see the blood run from the man’s face, followed by a look of sudden determination.
He had seen it on the faces of every one of his men. There was work to be done, and no matter how long it took, they were going to do it.
***********
It seemed mercenary, selling the story to all three networks, but Lois was technically unemployed, and she suspected she was going to have legal bills sooner than later. At least the government had unfrozen her bank accounts.
As she left the bank, she felt dizzy for a moment. She’d been up almost forty eight hours, and if she didn’t get some sleep soon, all the coffee in the world wasn’t going to help her keep awake.
Still, the story had gotten out, and combined with the increasing weight of evidence in the form of more and more news from the Chinese, interviewers were beginning to take Clark more seriously.
As a first step toward a dialogue with the government, it was a good one. According to Susan, the ACLU was interested in taking the case of the detainees, and Amnesty International was inquiring about their living conditions.
It wouldn’t be long before the trickle of interest became a flood, and when that happened Lois intended to be there.
As Lois moved to get into her new rental car, she felt something sticking into her back.
She’d been more tired than she realized to have been caught like that, even in the open.
“My money is in my purse,” Lois said slowly.
“I’m not after your money, you stupid-“
As it turned out, there was nothing at all wrong with her pepper spray. As the man behind her shifted, she jerked the pepper spray she had palmed and sprayed it into his eyes.
He yelled, and as Lois turned she realized that it was someone she knew. Agent Randal had staggered backward and was fumbling for his gun.
Lois heard the sound of tires squealing, but she didn’t dare look away from the blinded man. He didn’t need to see all that well to start firing in her direction, and it he did there was a chance that he’d be able to hit her. Contrary to Hollywood depictions, a car door wasn’t heavy enough to stop bullets.
“Put that down!”
Agent’s White’s voice snapped likea cracking whip across the intervening space and although Agent Randal hesitated, he slowly holstered his weapon.
“He didn’t identify himself,” Lois said defensively.
Agent White gestured at two of his agents, and they immediately moved to the agent who had staggered to one knee and was clawing at his eyes.
“You’re under arrest!” Agent Randal said loudly. Fortunately he wasn’t even looking in Lois’s direction and she quickly stepped back out of his line of fire.
Agent White scowled and said, “Get him taken care of.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” Lois said again. “He put a gun at my back and—“
“Get in,” Agent White said. It was the first time she’d heard his voice angry, and instinctively she slipped into the opened door of the limousine.
Agent White slipped into the seat across from her, and the door was slammed behind him. A moment later the limousine was in motion.
“I don’t know why you keep using him if you know he has a personal problem with me,” Lois said. “Wouldn’t it be smarter to reassign him someplace else, like the artic?”
“Agent Randal had political connections,” Agent White said, “Ones I can’t ignore.”
“Well, maybe you should put him on guard duty or-“
“I thought you were going to keep your boy under control,” Agent White said, his voice tight with controlled anger.
“Clark?” Lois said. “The interview was my idea.”
“He’s taking orders from the People’s Liberation Army in China,” Agent White said.
“It’s probably the most efficient way to coordinate the rescue efforts,” Lois said. “They know where to send him.”
“They’ve apparently seen your interview. They’ve made an offer of asylum for him and any of the other passengers who want it.”
“I doubt any of them would be tempted,” Lois said, “Unless they were from China on their own world.”
“It’s an embarrassment to the country.”
“Maybe the embarrassment is how the country is treating these people.” Lois stared at Agent White, and despite his expression, she didn’t look away.
The pressure was already beginning.
************
The rumbling from above was enough for Sergeant Wen to yell for his men to fall back. His men obeyed immediately, but the civilians weren’t used to taking orders without questioning, and they were still in the middle of the rubble of the road. There had been reports of other workers killed in landslides, and adding to the death toll wasn’t going to do anyone any good.
The light drizzling rain was already making the footing treacherous. It was loosening the soil above the roadway, and it made the mass of stalled cars and debris blocking the roadway even more difficult to remove.
All of it was keeping aid from reaching the people who needed it.
Turning to his aide, he was startled to see something moving in the sky in the distance. For a moment he assumed it was a helicopter coming to offer more immediate aid than people were able to offer.
It moved too quickly to be any helicopter he knew of
He squinted, and a moment later he glanced quickly at his aide. It wouldn’t do to admit what he thought he was seeing. Being thought to be mentally unstable would hurt his career.
Others were seeing it too, and thankfully the civilians were finally moving off the roadway.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring. The roar of the road from behind them was a shock.
Turning, Sergeant Wen saw the earth give way in a massive flood, washing the vehicles off the side of the road and down the side of the hill. His heart sank. It would take massive earth moving machines to make a dent in the mud which was blocking the pass, and with all other demands on the equipment, it might take days.
The victims of the earthquake didn’t have days. They needed food, water and rescue teams now.
“Did we lose anyone?” he asked quickly.
A quick head count showed that everyone was accounted for. By the time that was done, Sergeant Wen heard his aide gasp.
Turning, he saw a man in an absurd costume carrying a troop transport vehicle. As he watched, the man set it down.
Before any of his men could raise their rifles, another man leapt out of the cab of the truck.
He stood at attention as he realized he was facing a colonel.
“What is the situation here?” The man’s voice was clipped and impatient.
As he’d been trained, Sergeant Wen gave a quick appraisal.
The colonel nodded to the brightly clad man, and a moment later, the man was gone.
The colonel was staring at the landslide behind him, and Sergeant Wen instinctively turned. He felt his jaw begin to drop. Remembering himself in time, he forced himself to stand at attention.
The man in the ridiculous costume had ripped the remains of a large truck from its bed and he was now using the storage compartment to dig the road out in massive scoops.
Sergeant Wen had an engineering background. He knew fully well that the man was moving hundreds of thousands of pounds of earth per scoop. Although the metal of the truck bed was sturdy, it had never been designed to take that sort of weight.
He glanced at the Colonel, who shrugged.
A moment later the man dropped the truck bed down the mountain. He then blurred into motion, leaving a red and blue streak where he had once been.
He’d scooped out ugly chunks of earth from above the road, and to Sergeant Wen’s eye, it looked like it would be safe, but he couldn’t be sure.
A moment later, the stranger was in front of him.
“The road seems essentially safe for the moment,” he said. “You might want to double check my work. I’ve done seven other of these, but every job is a little different.”
“I need a list of your personnel,” the Colonel said suddenly. “We’re taking a faster route to the epicenter, and I’ll trade you soldiers for doctors or medics.”
Glancing at the costumed man, Sergeant Wen wondered if he was some sort of new technology stolen from the Americans, a robot of some sort. He looked human enough, but he was doing things that no one else could do.
“I have six people you might use,” he said. He raised his voice and quickly called out their names.”
“Your orders are the same as they were,” the Colonel said. “Get to the epicenter and render whatever aid you can. The men I’m giving you have some training in rescue work, so I won’t be leaving you entirely understaffed.”
It was the work of only a couple of minutes before the truck was aloft again, with Sergeant Wen and the others staring after them.
It began to drizzle again and Sergeant Wen began to shout. “Check the road. If it’s safe, let’s get ready to move. Time is of the essence.”
Whatever wonders existed in the world, people still needed to be fed and sheltered. Helping their countrymen was more than just a duty. It was part of what it meant to be human.
***************
Repairing roads when he should be digging people out of the rubble was counterintuitive, but Clark understood the reasoning behind it. With the roads blocked, he’d have to transport all the injured himself. He’d have to provide what limited medical care he could fly in and feed people with supplies he’d flown in from somewhere.
With the roads open, twenty thousand soldiers were going to converge on the area. They’d be able to provide supply lines and services far in excess of what he’d be able to do alone.
At least he’d won one argument. They were skipping Hanwang and Dujiangyan; those towns were more accessible by the streams of rescue workers already on their way. They were heading for Beichuan, a city of 160,000 people that was going to be difficult to reach even with Clark’s help.
Clark had been to Beichuan in his own world during his travels after college. He’d spent most of his time in Shanghai, but had traveled to less common places in search of who and what he was.
He’d spoken with holy men and fakirs, priests and monks. He’d eaten exotic foods and tasted ways of life he’d never known.
Beichuan had been an idyllic stop on the road, a pleasant, if poor town whose people had been accepting of him. It had been a town nestled in one of the world’s most beautiful valleys, with buildings built onto the sides of the valley walls. He’d found peace there for a short time, and he hoped that he might be able to help some of the analogues of people he’d once known there.
That hope died as they reached the top of the summit. As they crested the ridge, Clark could hear the gasps of the men in the cab of the truck above him.
It was a scene of horror, reminding Clark of scenes he’d seen of the Nagasaki explosion.
The devastation was almost total. With buildings built onto the valley walls, higher buildings had collapsed onto lower buildings. There were very few structures left standing. Even large structures had collapsed, crushing smaller ones.
Clark slowly lowered the truck as they landed on the edge of the devastation.
The ruins of the city were eerily quiet. To the human ear all that would have been apparent was the sound of the wind and of a single solitary voice wailing with the sound of inconsolable grief.
With his special hearing, Clark should have heard the heartbeats of tens of thousands of people. Instead all he heard was the sound of less than two thousand heartbeats, scattered throughout the rocky landscape. Those heartbeats he did hear were muffled and strained. Some were already slowing and stuttering to a halt.
He glanced back at the rescuers filing slowly out of the truck. Their expressions reflected his own horror, and for a moment Clark wanted to do nothing more than run.
It was overwhelming and he had no idea where to start. Every person he chose to save meant he wasn’t saving someone else.
Clark felt frozen, paralyzed with indecision. It was as though the entire world was slowing around him.
He wasn’t going to be able to save everyone. The realization of that felt like a lead weight in his stomach. How was he going to decide who was going to live and who was going to die?
How was he going to live with the guilt of his failures?
He felt Colonel Kwan’s hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at the older man, who was looking at him with an expression of sympathy.
From his expression, Clark could see that Colonel Kwan had faced this sort of decision before, although probably not on this scale. The man looked him in the eye and said, “Let’s start with the school. The parents would want it that way.”
Clark felt the breath rush back into his body as the world snapped back into focus. Suddenly it all seemed very clear.
It didn’t matter who he saved as long as he saved as many as he could. He’d already learned a great deal about shifting rubble in his work on the other schools and he wasn’t as afraid of causing collapses as he had been before.
He moved forward, his body suddenly a blur. He’d be faster this time; he had to be.
People were depending on him.
