The Brave New World - 125 Red Russian

Clouds were gathering overhead by the time they entered the long, narrow bay formed by the mouth of a river flowing from the interior of the peninsula. Cambridge was located on the southern shore of that bay, a few kilometers away, but the old man was determined to dock at the first wharf they came to.

“The weather’s set to change,” he told them. “I don’t want to get caught in a thunderstorm on my way back. You got bicycles and it won’t take you long to get to that hotel. You can’t miss it, if you just keep going east and through the town. It’a big complex with a golf course and its own marina and lots of other stuff that rich folks get to enjoy.”

“As long as no one shoots us before we get there,” said Olga.

The old man laughed, and said:

“Well yeah, there’s that. Makes you wonder if things wouldn’t have been better if all private gun ownership was illegal, except for hunters. Anyways, you don’t have anything to worry about. I been to Cambridge several times in the last few weeks and it’s real peaceful there. John Hardin is a good mayor. He’s governor now too, for this whole chunk of the peninsula. You guys are going for that New World stuff? You want to go and start something over there?”

“We hope to,” said Jake. The old man smiled.

“Well, you’re gonna need a whole lot of luck, that’s for sure,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. From what I heard you arrive there buck naked, without a thing to call your own. You’ll need plenty of luck, for sure.”

They didn’t talk for the remainder of the journey. It didn’t last long; about an hour later, just after three in the afternoon, they docked at the first pier they came to. The old man told them it belonged to a nearby college specializing in environmental science.

“It’s practically deserted right now,” he said. “None of the students and almost none of the staff got back from Christmas break. I figure they’ll be going out of business, soon.”

“I can see some staff are definitely around,” said Jake. They all looked where he was pointing, and saw two men stepping onto the pier. They wore dark blue outdoor jackets and pants that seemed to be a uniform of some sorts. They had rifles slung from their soldiers and official-looking baseball caps.

“Security guards,” said the old man. “I know those boys. Yeah, they stuck around. Hey, boy, stop messing with that sail. I appreciate your good intentions, but I’ll be raising it again in a couple of minutes. Better help me with that line.”

The security guards reached them just as they’d finished securing the boat, and were beginning to unload their possessions onto the pier.

“Hey,” said one of the guards. “Who told you you can dump your stuff here? You students?”

“Relax, Stan,” said the old man. “Those kids are on their way to Cambridge. I gave them a lift across the bay.”

“Okay, fine,” said the old man. “I won’t. But let them through, will you? There’s a storm coming and if I take them all the way to Cambridge, it’s gonna hit me on the way back. I mean hell, how long are they gonna stay on your grounds? They got bicycles and they’ll be gone in under five minutes.”

The guards looked at each other. Then Stan said:

“All right. Just this once. But remember, from now onward you dock in Cambridge. I know it’s a longer trip, but then you can charge your passengers more.” He grinned slyly.

“Good point,” said the old man. “Thank you.”

Li Yang, Jake, and Olga wasted no time unloading their possessions from the boat. They put their backpacks on and wheeled the bicycles off the pier, escorted by the two security guards. As they were mounting them, Jake looked at Li Yang and said:

“You heard that, right? Our guy there is running a regular ferry service.”

“Don’t be such a smartass,” Stan said immediately. “He’s helping people. The Chesapeake Bay bridge is a long way off without a car. He’s helped you, right?”

“Right,” said Jake.

“So shut up and move on.” Stan helpfully extended a finger to indicate the direction of their desired movement.

They obeyed. They cycled down a nearby road. It turned right sharply after a while, and led them past some buildings that looked like they belonged to the college. They had no map, but knew that they have to keep going east.

The road ran through a small forest and emerged onto a golf course and for a moment they thought they’d already reached the hotel. But there was no sign of an hotel anywhere, or of its marina. So they cycled on, and almost right away ran into a couple of women riding their bikes in the other direction.

“Excuse me, is this the way to Cambridge?” Jake called out, as soon as they’d drawn close enough.

“Yes! Keep going, you can’t miss it!” one of the women called back.

A few minutes later, the road joined a small highway and simultaneously, they saw houses in the distance. They turned out to belong to a small housing estate. There were people pottering around in their back yards here and there: it was such a calm and peaceful scene that Li Yang felt his throat tighten.

Olga sped up until they were riding side by side, and said:

“You see? Anyone with any brains is starting a vegetable garden.”

“You’re going to start a vegetable garden?”

“Of course! The moment I settle in one place.”

“You think they’ll let you grow vegetables at the hotel?”

“They’re already doing that,” Olga said triumphantly. “Irina’s boss, the hotel manager, is a very smart man. All the staff that stayed got new duties.”

“What about the guests?”

“There are very few guests at the hotel.”

“Do you think they’ll let us stay?”

“Maybe for a night or two, no longer than that,” said Olga. “But they’ll help us find a place, for sure.”

“I wonder what Harper and the rest are doing now.”

“I don’t,” said Olga. “I don’t want to think about bullshit.”

And she stood on her pedals and overtook Jake and settled in the lead. Jake didn’t protest; he turned his head to look at Li Yang, and winked.

They entered the town proper immediately afterward, and there were actually people walking on the pavement, there was traffic, there was life! They stopped to ask directions from an elderly couple. Reassured, they kept going. Their route took them right through the center of the town and Li Yang was amazed to see a couple of stores that were open. However, there was a long lineup in front of each of these, and after a hurried conference they decided they wouldn’t be stopping.

The street they were on ended at a big, eight-lane freeway. Like all the other freeways they’d seen, it was littered with abandoned cars. They carried their bikes across as a preventive measure against punctures, and found themselves looking at another golf course.

It was much bigger and lusher than the golf course they’d seen earlier. Screens of trees ran across it at all angles, but in spite of that they were able to make out a group of big white buildings in the distance.

“This must be the hotel,” said Jake.

“It IS the hotel,” said Olga. She moved forward with her bike.

“Stop,” said Jake. “We’d better not go through golf course grounds, not with out bikes. Let’s go along its boundary, this way.” He pointed.

“Why can’t we go across the golf course? Is it like a sacred burial ground for rich Americans?”

“You got it almost exactly right,” Jake told her. “Except maybe for the burial part. Okay, let’s go.”

He led them for nearly a kilometer down the lane that ran alongside the golf course. It turned out they’d made the right decision. They came to a road that ran towards the buildings they’d seen.

A group of people was cycling along that road, riding in their direction. As they drew closer Li Yang saw both men and women; there were seven or eight of them altogether. They all wore baseball caps with some kind of logo in front. A girl was leading the group, and some of her hair escaped from under the cap on one side and was fluttering in the breeze created by her movement.

Li Yang had just noticed the girl’s hair was red when Olga yelled:

“Irina!”

The red-haired girl slammed her brakes on and there were shouts and curses as the cyclists behind her collided with one another. One man fell off his bike and landed to the side of the road, from where he proceeded to curse Russians in general and their road manners in particular.

Olga and Irina took no notice. They dropped their bikes and ran to each other and embraced as if they were long-lost sisters reuniting after decades of separation. Jake and Li Yang stood astride their bikes, looking on and grinning foolishly. The man that fell off his bike got to his feet and stopped cursing and started throwing hostile glares. There was muttering among Irina’s group. Occasionally, Li Yang heard what they were saying.

“Who are those guys?” asked a female voice.

“That one over there is Chinese,” said someone observant.

“They look scruffy. What are they doing here?”

“Maybe we should tell them to fuck off where they came from.”

“No,” Irina said loudly, freeing herself from Olga’s embrace and turning to face the group. This is my best friend.” She pointed at Olga.

“This is my best friend,” she repeated, “And she’s brought a couple of her friends with her. She’s also brought something that all of us will enjoy very much. You know what I mean?”

“You mean drugs,” said a deep male voice with utmost certainty.

“I mean very good drugs,” Irina corrected him. Li Yang felt the group’s glances at him become less hostile, even friendly.

“Why don’t you all go on to town,” said Irina. “I’ll take them to see Terry, and ask if they can stay tonight.”

“Terry will bite your head off,” said the guy who had fallen off his bike.

“He won’t. Otherwise, I’ll bite his head off, next time,” Irina said mysteriously.

It was obvious to Li Yang that the group knew well what Irina was talking about. There were grins and a couple of titters. One of the girls in the group looked cross, though.

“See you guys later,” said Irina, and walked up to her bike and picked it up. The group moved off, one by one, throwing curious glances at Olga, Li Yang, and Jake as they went past. Li Yang smiled so much his face was beginning to hurt.

Finally they were all gone, and Li Yang looked at Irina and saw that she was examining him and Jake critically.

When he caught her eye, she said:

“You guys have to clean up a little before I show you to Terry. Follow me.”

And she got on her bike and rode off with Olga by her side.

“New World indeed,” said Jake. “Foreign broads are pushing us around. Fuck it. Let’s go.”

They pushed off and rode after the two girls.

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