The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction SeptemberOctober 2019 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Book 137) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spilogale Inc.
Published: 2020-01-04T23:00:00+00:00

VII

She led me into the back, a room arranged in typical Middle Eastern style. Embroidered cushions, banquettes, foam mattresses, rugs, and bright cotton prints. There was even the ubiquitous television. One wall behind the useless TV was stacked with large bottles of water. Under some banquettes were boxes of tea, cans of vegetables, and so on. She had been lucky not to lose them.

We laid two mattresses on the floor and covered them. "Just like old times."

We undressed and lay down together. I could already sense her giving up her power to me. I was surprised by the authority with which I took her. She was very happy, as I was, and thanked me when we were finished. I wanted to thank her in return, thank her for making a man of me. Bringing me back to the land of the living, if briefly.

She sensed my appreciation. Putting her kaftan back on, she got up to make fresh tea.

Later, I suggested again that she come with us. I needed her warmth. Her soft skin. Her approval and intimacy.

"Where would we go, Tom?"

"To Kashmir, Claire. They have a couple of those impregnable communities. Smart cities. Gated and guarded. Climate-controlled. Like the ones in China and Nigeria."

"Like New Kabul? It didn't do them much good in the end, did it?"

"Kabul's an icon."

"And Kashmir isn't symbolic?"

"Not anymore. A U.N. Freezone. Completely self-sufficient."

"Or was. As dependent on satellites as everywhere else. Even if smart cities still worked, Tom, those apartments cost a fortune. Could you live with the view? An endless panorama of everyone who couldn't get in? And how could we afford one?"

Clearly, she had considered the idea. "Claire, we wouldn't need to afford it now. We're an efficient cavalry unit. We could requisition one."

"Oh, Tom! Oh, no!"

I understood suddenly what I had become since I had last seen her. I fell silent.

To break the tension, she grinned. "We'll always have Kabul, Tom."

Later, as we sat on the edge of a mattress sipping our tea, she asked me how many bullets I had in my Glock.

"In that one?" My holstered weapon lay on a whitewashed banquette opposite. "Ten. Just ten."

"You don't think they'd turn on you? Your Cossacks?"

"Why would they?"

She shrugged her delightful shoulders. "I don't know. For your gun. For me. For whatever is still valuable."

I saw her point. "Well, we'd anticipate them. We'd make ourselves indispensable."

"What? As slaves? I don't think I'd like that. Roles are one thing. Inescapable roles are another. You spoke of some ancestor in a shtetl who became a Cossack's pet Jew. Do you remember that?"

I did. I could easily imagine the scenario. Fear went to my stomach. I felt weak. "Ugh!"

This time, her smile was quick and sad. "We really don't have many options, Tom. Do we?"

I agreed. "We have this."

"But we won't have it for very long. We've already enjoyed the best of it."

Again, I could not disagree. I rubbed my forehead. I rubbed ash into my skin. I needed to wash. "Where do you find your water?"

"The river.

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