CONQUERED
Chapter 6
Kate learned a few things about this Dean, his wife Laura, and Alexis's boyfriend, Michael. It sounded like the lot were honestly a group. Group of what was hard to put a word to, but they had all had interesting lives.
Kate saw flags when they got a lot closer to shore, and it looked like Rick was headed right for them. "Are the flags yours?"
Rick nodded. "I planted them so I knew where to go. They tell me where the entrance is to my bay. There aren't any road signs out here to tell me where I am. It all looks the same to me." Rick had grown up in the city. Being out here was something new.
"Sounds smart." Kate watched as Rick slowed way down so they were no longer bouncing on the waves, something she was thankful for. Now she watched as he made his way into the space.
He just kept going and going, and there were a couple of turns that he had to make.
"There it is," Rick said proudly. He turned a corner and home came into view.
"WOW!" Rick hadn't been kidding. It was floating, and while it sounded like a house because of the four bedrooms and other spaces, she didn't see a house. There were little buildings scattered all over the place. She also saw an awful lot of green. Green trees, green bushes, it was a whole lot of green. She didn't see any color until she finally saw little shots of color in various areas.
Kate spotted all four greenhouses; each of them was pretty large. Maybe there were larger ones, but those were commercial. She had been thinking of small backyard greenhouses, but these four were much larger than that.
The only big pop of color was something like a carport with a navy blue roof and a Catamaran sitting next to it.
"This is amazing, Rick. You thought up this all yourself?" She had underestimated him if he had.
"I would like to take all the credit, but no. I came up with the concept and got an architect to design it for me. He mostly specializes in floating homes. He's based, or was based, in Seattle." Rick had no idea where he was now.
"He, in turn, found the engineers to make all this work. It's made up of floating sections that are connected by grated walkways. You can see the solar panels. There are three groups of them. One section of solar panels is for each major section, so if we lose electricity in one place, we know it's restricted to that system and not the entire place."
The closer they got, the more Kate could see and was itching to get out of this cabin and off the boat to see it. However, as Rick slowly brought the boat in under the carport, Kate could see everyone else standing there, waiting for them.
"Oh..." This was where she had to bare her soul. She had promised that she would and she was going to keep her promise. Kate knew she needed to change. She desperately needed to get Alexis on her side. To get her to understand.
She saw who she was guessing was Dean and Laura. They were a lot younger than she had thought they would be. Probably younger than her, or Rick, she was betting, but not nearly as young as Alexis or the young man standing next to her. Spotting Martha was easy. She was still colorfully dressed in keeping with her style.
Kate followed Rick out of the cabin and took Dean's hand to help her off the boat and onto a grated floor. She thought it was probably meant to allow water to drain into the bay.
"Kate Beckett, this is Dean and Laura Neymar. You know Alexis, Mother, and this is Michael."
"Come, you must be hungry. I can't imagine what you found driving across the country to get from New York City to here." Laura was ready to feed her.
"I only stopped at the big chain gas stations like Loves or Flying J to get gas and using cash, bought what hadn't been looted. I did get to make a pizza once. They were all looted and empty of people. I never really did see anyone. Maybe someone saw me, but I didn't see them.
"There had to be people out there, but not where I stopped. It felt weird, but at the same time it felt safe. They couldn't do anything to me or the aliens would kill them. I've seen enough of that to last me a lifetime."
"You actually saw that?" Michael asked since he was interested in how they did that.
"We can talk while we eat," Laura suggested and started walking. Martha, it turned out, took up the last of them. Kate's head was on a swivel while they walked. Some of the floors were concrete, and yet a lot of them were grates.
The kitchen area turned out to be a lot smaller than she thought it would be. It was a building all to itself, and this building was a dome. None of the others were. Kate watched as Laura opened a stainless steel door that was at the back and walked into it. It looked like it might be sitting outside.
"Did I see a garden or something on one of the roofs?" Kate sat down and watched Laura come back out into the kitchen cooking area and get to work.
"There is!" Laura was very pleased with her idea. "That was my idea after my husband and I got here. It took a little work, and we had to go on land and do some digging to get the soil we needed, but now we have one additional space to grow things. It keeps me busy, I can tell you that."
"Tell me what happened, Kate. What did you see? What do you know? Our outside contact was a satellite dish till the service company stopped working," Rick told her. "Now we have nothing."
"Where to start." Kate needed to think. "We worked out that if the farmers are farming, maybe they're harvesting, though, maybe not. No one is transporting what they farm to cities like New York, for example. No semi-trucks are moving, no freight trains are running, no one is trying to restock the grocery stores. Those and a lot of places were all looted long before the end of those 30 days.
"There are no taxis moving in the city. And rarely do you see people walking. All mass transport has ceased. No buses, no trains. I did see a few motorcycles and the occasional private car, but nothing else. Manhattan is a ghost town.
"The aliens have conquered Earth. What they'll do now, I have no idea. Their message said they would eventually begin doing something, but it didn't say what that something is."
"No planes, no trains, no semi-trucks, no local deliveries. We're screwed." Dean slumped in his seat and thought about that.
"Not to be more gloomy, but Gates and I were talking one day before the precinct closed. It was mostly just the two of us even then. This is all from memory, so don't quote me about any of this," Kate asked. "We think that the Earth had something over seven billion people worldwide. For Manhattan to look like a ghost town means it has to be over half empty. That would mean instead of 1.5 million, there might be just five hundred thousand. Either they left the city, or the aliens killed them. Maybe even less."
"Good grief." Alexis covered her mouth and thought about that.
"They killed New York City," Martha whispered as she shook her head and grieved. She knew she wasn't going to get an acting job way out here, but to hear that her hometown was now a ghost town was almost more than she could bear.
"Small towns should be less affected, we were thinking. Get into the Midwest, to Kansas, Missouri, and such, since they might be less affected. There weren't many small towns on the Interstate while I drove, so I don't know. And I didn't stop at any of the ones I did pass. I only got off the Interstate to get gas, find food, and find a place to rest, so what I saw is limited to that," Kate cautioned them.
Rick raked his fingers through his hair. "This is very bad. If we hold to that number, that seven-plus billion should be under three by now and maybe still falling. Just a lot slower."
"Good God, Dad!" Did he have to tell them that?
Laura showed up with lunch. "Here, eat. I hope you like vegan. Our meat is all frozen and limited so our diet has changed since we got here. Same for breads. We make our own."
"Right now, I'll eat anything," Kate said. "Is there coffee?" She was addicted, and she knew it. She hadn't had coffee till she made it to Vancouver, so once there, she'd had all she could.
Rick broke it to her. "We each have one cup a day, but at least it's not decaf. I hadn't planned for this place to work the way it is now. How was I to know aliens would show up and do all this?" He shook his head and sighed.
"It's fine, Rick. I'm here now. I took the risk and drove all the way here," Kate told him. "It's time for my story and my apology. A deal is a deal." She had told Rick, so telling it again should be easier.
O~O~O
Kate was in what was going to be her bedroom with Rick. The bed was big enough, so if Rick didn't want to sleep with her as in having her close, he could stay away from her. Right now, she had both of her bags open and was looking at where she could put what. Thankfully Rick had planned ahead a little. She had two whole drawers to put stuff in so in went her panties, bras, swimsuits, and t-shirts.
The closet was equally tiny so she pushed and squeezed and only hung up what she believed she would wear any time soon. It was now that it hit her. There were so many pairs of shoes she had left behind
"Need help?" a voice called out, and Kate turned to see Alexis, the last person she was expecting to offer to help her.
"I was bemoaning the pairs of shoes I left behind. I had so little information about this place that I left behind all of my high heels. All I have are flats. At least it created more space for more clothes," Kate said.
"Coats, swimsuits? We shouldn't get much, if any snow at all, but it will get cool here eventually," Alexis warned her.
"I actually did plan for that. I have one heavy coat, one light coat, and three swimsuits. I even brought two pairs of gloves. One for the cold and one to get dirty with," Kate said to her. "And you're talking to me."
"Yeah, you live here now," Alexis told her. "Yes, after Dad came home and told us what you had done, I hated you so much. What you did was so cruel, so very evil. You hurt my dad badly, so yes, I hated you.
"I may understand better now, but that hurt. Even Grams wasn't sure just what to think of you. Since you look to be doing well, I'll leave you to it. You might want to think about taking a self-guided tour and get used to the place." Alexis turned around and left her.
Kate was happy that at least Alexis was talking to her, without Rick present. It left her wondering just where Rick was right now. And since she wanted to know, she abandoned her unpacking and went looking.
"Goats! Hi, goats." Kate reached over the fence to try and pet one. "You look tame." She looked for the gate, but since Rick wasn't there, she moved on.
It was easy to find Laura when Kate opened the door to the first greenhouse she came to. "Have you seen Rick?" Kate was willing to ask for help.
"Chicken coop. That way," Laura said and pointed.
"These are a lot bigger than I thought they would be," Kate commented as she looked around and saw plants everywhere, including hanging ones.
"I'm just hoping they're big enough," Laura said. "Seven adults now is starting to stretch them to their limit. We start adding kids, and this place is going to get crowded."
"Children." Kate almost fainted. She wasn't even sure she and Rick were ready for sex yet, much less children. She had told him that she loved him and had planned to tell him that a lot, as often as possible. He had yet to tell her that he still loved her. And now Laura was talking about kids? Yikes!
"Are you trying to tell me something?" Kate asked her.
Laura stopped what she was doing. "No. But I'm out of birth control pills, and we only have just so many condoms. My husband and I haven't talked about it yet. Still, an accident is bound to happen." Laura knew she and Dean needed to talk and then talk to Rick about what to do about kids.
"What about tampons?" Kate had brought what she had but she would run out eventually.
"There were two women here. We have a lot. If you run out, just find one of us. I even have a case of pads somewhere," Laura reassured her. "You should count yourself lucky that you weren't here when we landed." She proceeded to give her an idea of what life had been like once they arrived. "From the airport to the marina was a long way, and we had to walk it. Then return to the plane to get more stuff and walk back time after time until the plane was empty."
"Good to know. Thanks, Laura. I'm going to go find Rick." Kate had solved one issue. Now she needed to work on getting Rick to love her again.
Instead of Rick, she ran across Dean, who appeared to be sweeping debris into the bay. It looked to be all pine needles and leaves, so that didn't look bad.
Kate stopped close enough to talk. "Cleaning?"
"Everyone has a job to do. My wife works in the greenhouses. I maintain all the engines along with Michael. Did you know this place has its own little motor? We can move it if needed," Dean told her.
"Really? I didn't know that." She had noticed one of the cables that went to shore to hold them in place. "I guess I need a job, then. I don't have a weapon or even my shield any longer. We don't need a homicide detective." Kate knew she needed to keep busy. It was just who she was unless she was willing to lay on a beach and work on her tan.
"Oh, we'll think of something for you to do. Never fear." Dean went back to pushing his broom.
"Great." Kate was thinking clean out the compost bin if they even had one. She still needed to find Rick, however, so she left him to it.
O~O~O
Kate found him inside the chicken pen with the chickens and it looked like he was spreading something all over. "Are you feeding the chickens?" It didn't look like a lot but he was throwing something.
"Yup. We learned the hard way that we have to keep them inside this pen. The local wildlife learned we had free chicken dinners if we let them out and they went wherever they wanted. We lost a couple of chickens before we learned that lesson. Same for the goats." Rick was done, so he left and joined Kate after putting his bag down. "I didn't have the slightest idea when I designed this place. Granted, I didn't think they would leave the place and go anywhere they wanted on land, given that chickens can't fly. But having wildlife come onto us and hunt them was new and very unexpected.
"So how's your tour going?"
"It's amazing. The bedrooms are kind of small. Small enough that there's no reason to be in them except to sleep. So what do you do for fun?" Kate knew Rick was all about doing something fun.
"Swimming when the water's warm. Movie night. We have hundreds of DVDs to choose from. We have a pool table that doubles as a ping pong table. We have a poker night. With you here, we can have strip poker now." Rick waggled his eyebrows at her.
"I'm not that much of an exhibitionist, but nice try." Kate grinned since Rick was trying to get her naked, so that was a good sign. "How does Alexis feel about strip poker?"
"We have a few board games. We even have Twister." Rick grinned at her.
"How about a workout room? Yoga mats?" Kate wanted to keep up with her Yoga.
"All in the same room, though, there are no free weights. We couldn't get what they weighed to work with keeping this place floating level. You'll have to make do with running to nowhere." Rick told her.
"Thanks." Kate kissed his cheek. "I found Dean sweeping, and he talked about everyone having a job. So what can I do around here?"
"We can discuss that over dinner tonight. I get to feed the chickens and the goats, as well as collect the eggs and actually milk a goat. Did you know chickens peck your hands?" Rick showed her his hands and watched as Kate gently run her fingers over his injuries.
"Chickens did this?" Kate was tempted to kiss them better but chose not to.
"They're vicious little things," Rick complained. "Never underestimate what a chicken can do. Now if the wretched birds could just fight off being eaten."
"Mom taught me how to cook, so I can help there if you want. Perhaps take over cooking one of the meals," Kate offered.
"We'll talk. Right now, Laura, Alexis, and I do all the cooking. We'll think of something to keep you busy." Rick was positive there was something.
"Come on, I have something to show you. Did your dad teach you how to fish?"
"Of course." Kate followed him and wondered what he was thinking.
O~O~O
"We only have three boats: the one you came here on, the Catamaran, and a rowboat so we can get to shore for whatever reason. We need to keep from overfishing this location, so we've begun taking the Catamaran out of the bay. We can teach you how to use it, and you can take over sailing it and then go out fishing if you're interested."
"I'm interested." She needed something to keep her dad alive. She had no idea what happened to him. She was afraid of what might have happened to him, Javi, Lanie, and others, but she didn't know for sure. She never would know. New York City was a very long ways away, as she well knew.
"Good!" Rick smiled at her. "We can get Alexis to teach you how to sail it."
"Alexis?" Alexis still hated her. Kate could feel it even if she was talking to her.
"She's a natural. Who knew? Typically she and Michael go out sailing," Rick explained.
"Alexis likes Michael?" Kate had noticed they were usually together.
"He's a good kid. You two might have something in common if you want to talk to him."
"Oh?" Kate wondered what that was. It couldn't be being a homicide detective.
"He lost his mother when he was little. And years later, he lost his dad to a drive-by shooting that's still unsolved. It wasn't in the 12th's jurisdiction, so you wouldn't have been involved. You might have solved it if you were." Rick knew she was good at her job.
Rick meant he had no parents, and now neither did she. He might be right about that. "Maybe." She hadn't yet allowed herself to mourn losing her dad. Partly because she didn't know he was truly lost to her. He was just missing for now.
"Come on, we need to find Laura. She has all four greenhouses and that rooftop. Maybe she'll be willing to teach you, and you can help her." Rick was trying to think of options for her.
"Alright." Kate was willing to give it a try.