CONQUERED

Chapter 10

It was just a couple of days later, and Kate was doing the cooking for breakfast. She was trying out a suggestion someone gave her. If she cooked like her mother had taught her, it would keep her memory alive instead of reminding her that she was dead.

"Come and get it. Mom taught me this, so be kind," Kate told everyone as they took their fair portion and headed to one of the tables. She had made puffy omelettes, folded over with sauteed diced onions, crushed garlic, red bell pepper bits, diced tomato pieces, and goat cheese inside.

Kate saw an empty space next to Rick, so she sat down beside him. Close enough that they were touching. "When was the last time you tried the Internet?" she inquired since she had a real question after that one.

"Not since the day it died," Rick replied. He began eating and was quite impressed.

Alexis had heard Kate's question. "I tried yesterday. I wanted to find out if anyone else saw what Michael and I saw. It's still down."

"I guess that kills my next question about if anyone else had seen that thing." Kate was disappointed but then had an idea. "What about the satellite phone? That's how I called you to come get me."

Alexis shook her head. "I tried that, too. No one answered. Well, no one whose number I know, anyway."

"It would be good to know what they're up to," Dean admitted.

"Babe, don't you know anyone?" Kate turned her head to look at him. "You kept telling me that you knew people."

"I've tried a few of them. Every call went straight to voicemail, and not one has called back so far," Rick said, then took another bite. "This is wonderful, Kate. I hope you'll cook for us again soon."

Kate blushed. She was pleased that Rick liked it and hoped the others did as well. "My mother thanks you." Kate leaned across and kissed his cheek. "How about someone in the CIA? You kept talking about them. So put your phone number where your mouth is!"

"Satellite phone." Alexis got up to retrieve it since it was presently in their bedroom, not her dad's. She was back in a couple of minutes. "Here you go, Dad." Alexis handed it over to him and went to sit back down next to Michael so she could continue eating.

"If anyone knows anything, you would think the CIA would know," Dean mentioned to tempt Rick into calling someone.

"Fine, but if he doesn't answer, don't blame me." Rick dialed the number from memory and pressed SEND.

"Anderson Cross?" Rick queried since someone had actually answered.

"Richard Castle!" He was a little surprised to hear from him. He had been worried that he might be dead thanks to the aliens, but since he didn't know, it was a welcome surprise. "Tell me where you are, Richard."

"In a bay outside of Victoria, British Columbia."

"Victoria?" That definitely wasn't what he was expecting to hear. "Now that is a surprise. I'm in Port Townsend."

Rick had to think. "Seattle?" He was actually pretty close.

"So, what can I do for you, Richard?" Anderson asked as he fired up his laptop to look at one of his maps for bays around Victoria.

"My daughter and her boyfriend saw something, and we wanted to know if you know anything about it?"

"You mean that massive sail structure? Yeah, I saw that before I got here, but it hasn't been here yet. At least not that I've seen. What can you tell me about it?"

"Only what Alexis and Michael told us," Rick replied. "It's huge, the air smelled cleaner, and water was more blue. We're guessing that it's cleaning up the pollution."

"How thoughtful of them. After all the people they've killed, it's about damn time." Anderson didn't try to hide his disdain for the aliens. "A bay near Victoria, he says." Anderson was still searching for what he could be talking about.

He had a couple of ideas. "You wouldn't be anywhere near Saanichton Bay, would you?"

"You're actually pretty close." Rick wasn't sure what Anderson was thinking.

"Who do you have with you besides Alexis and her boyfriend?"

"My mother, Kate Beckett, and friends, Dean and Laura Neymar." Rick still wasn't sure what he was thinking.

"Sounds like a full house." That didn't matter to Anderson. He had lots of room himself. He just needed to get busy so he could plan this trip. "How much do you know?"

"Only that the aliens showed up, told us their laws and began killing people. After that, not much. My Internet connection is down."

"Speakerphone?" Anderson asked him. "I don't want anyone to miss this."

Rick put the phone down, turned up the volume as high as possible, and motioned everyone to come close. "Ready."

"Alright, so the second that the looting and riots started, the president went down to his bunker under the White House. Last I knew, he was still down there along with however many Secret Service agents that went with him. His wife and children were out of the city, so I don't know anything about them.

"Most of the members of the House are dead or can't be found. What few senators happened to be in DC at the time made it to one of the several hidden, secret bunkers. Everyone else is dead or missing. To tell you more, I would need to do it in person.

"I do know that as of about a few days ago before I made it here, the world population was around 7.4 billion. The last estimate I heard was that we are presently under 3 billion worldwide. The bigger the city, the more problems they had."

"Good God!" Kate put a hand over her mouth to keep from saying more. Alexis was in tears and leaned against Michael, Dean was hugging Laura, while Martha was sitting there shaking her head.

"By now, it should be settling down as everyone remaining begins to adjust. The closer you are to farmland, the better off you are."

"Who are you talking to?" a new voice asked.

"Come on over here. Say hello, sweetie," Anderson coaxed.

"Hello," a very soft, timid voice said hesitantly.

"Everyone, this is Libby. Libby, this is Richard and his friends. They're not all that far from here," Anderson told her. "Can you tell them how old you are?"

No one but Anderson saw her holding up fingers to show how old she was. "They can't see you, sweetie, we're on the phone. She's six." Anderson went on to explain why there was a little girl with him. "I arrived here and found her wandering around. She hadn't eaten, but I still can't figure out how long she was without food. For that alone, I took her in. So far, it's working out. She's still kind of scared, though."

"Six is a good age. I remember when Alexis was six." Rick was all set to start telling stories.

Alexis stopped him. "Enough, Dad. Don't embarrass your only daughter."

"Last I knew there's no worldwide communication happening. Communications are no longer blocked as you can tell, but so far as I'm aware, there was no one talking. I'm thinking most people are just trying to survive," Anderson submitted. "Though that big sailing device is interesting."

Libby asked softly, "Can I have a drink?"

"Give me one minute, sweetie, and I'll find you something. Richard, are you good at this number?"

"Yes, and someone will have the satellite phone handy if you learn something."

"Good, well I have to get a little someone something, and I have some planning to do. Stay safe out there, don't steal anything, kill anyone, or break any other law." Anderson ended the call.

"She sounded sweet. He found a six-year-old?" Martha asked.

"My money is on her parents up and disappearing on her. And the poor kid was lost and confused," Dean wagered.

"Killed. You mean killed by the aliens," Kate said grimly. "It's entirely probable that they broke down, stole something, and thought the aliens wouldn't notice. Desperate people do desperate things."

"Three billion." Michael shook his head. "People that can't farm or don't have family that can farm are going to be in trouble."

"Cities would have long since been looted, so anyone still in Manhattan, for example, is in big trouble. If they aren't farming because no one's delivering gas to farm with, no one will be shipping it by truck, not delivering it to grocery stores." Alexis was on a roll, and it wasn't a good one.

Laura spoke up. "These aliens had better have a plan for this or 3 billion is going to become 2 billion a little too fast."

"How well do you know this Anderson person, babe?" Kate was curious.

"I was told he was the person that got me into the CIA office in Langley. It was so I could follow someone around for research for my Derrick Storm series." Rick shrugged. "I never met him, but I did have a number for him. After him, I would need to think and do some research."

"Sounds like he knows more than we do," Kate said thoughtfully.

O~O~O

"What are you doing?" Libby had barely left his side ever since he'd found her. He was good to her, he fed her, and he gave her a bed. She even had a few toys. Okay, two were a few for her.

"Planning a trip. You want to help me go sailing?" Anderson asked her, knowing she probably had never gone sailing before. He didn't know a whole lot about her, but he knew enough. "Don't worry, I'll teach you what to do. You just have to help me. We're going to go see some friends."

Libby tilted her head and asked, "From the phone?"

"Very good! You're such a smart girl." Anderson chucked the little girl under her chin. "First, we need to go looking for a few things. Do you want to stay here or come with me?" He wanted to hear what she was thinking before he told her what was going to happen.

"Can I come?" She didn't want to lose him, too.

"Good choice. You're going to need shoes, though," Anderson told her, and she gave him a sad look. She liked walking around his boat in her bare feet. "Shoes, end of discussion, Libby. I don't want you to hurt your feet. You might step on something sharp." He could fix that but he didn't want to hear her scream and cry. What he knew about children would fit on the head of a pin. He was simply doing what felt right and what he remembered from when he was growing up.

O~O~O

"Here's yours. Do you think you can handle that?" Anderson handed her a single plastic bag with a couple cans of chunky soup and a treat she didn't know about inside it. He knew just where to go looking and left behind hundreds of dollars in payment for the groceries. He didn't bother counting. So far, it was working.

She smiling at him and walked toward the boat. He was nice, and she liked helping him.

"Into the kitchen." She had stopped once on the boat, and that got her moving again.

It didn't take him long to put it all away. He might not have had to go get anything, but he didn't want to press his luck. Today was as good a time as any.

"Now, what do we do?" He was thinking laundry. He needed to strip his bed and wash the sheets.

"Read to me, please?" Libby asked hopefully and looked up at him, expecting a happy answer.

"Alright." He figured he could do that. He watched her race to her seat and wait for him to find a book and read it to her.

Fortunately for him, he had bought this boat used. The couple that had owned it wanted to unload it, and everything on it, including what food was already in the kitchen. That also covered a few toys – boys toys – along with some kids' books and kids' DVD movies to watch.

He had this long triple shelf just in front of the open kitchen. "Let's see what we've got here." Some of them were clearly for kids, while others were not. "This should work. The Good Knight." Anderson moved over, sat down next to her, and let her move in close.

He had never had a life like this. He was a killer mostly. He solved problems that usually involved killing someone to clean up the mess. He put the book between them and began reading and turning pages so she could follow.

O~O~O

"Into the bathroom with you, little miss. It's bedtime, and we need to get you clean." Anderson followed her to her bathroom and helped her undress to get into his one and only tub. There were three bathrooms, but only one tub. The large kitchen was open to the main room that doubled as an eating space. The main deck was where they spent most of their time unless it was raining.

She was small for her age, so soon after he found her he made sure she could get on the toilet by herself. He had found a wooden footstool in one of the other bathrooms that made it easy for her. "Into your nightie." That was the one good thing out of all this. She somehow knew where she and her parents had been staying. He'd had to find a way into the motel room that didn't include violating an alien law. He was able to pick up her suitcase that had her clothes, a coloring book, a small box of crayons, several storybooks, and a toy or two in it, glad that he at least had something belonging to her for her to have.

O~O~O

"It's time for bed, and here's Fuzzy Cat. If I plan it right, we're sailing tomorrow, and you can help me! So, you need to go to sleep." Of course, there really wasn't much she could do to help him. He planned to hook her up far forward and tell her to yell if he was about to hit something.

Anderson kissed her head, turned out the lights, and left the door ajar. Now he needed to figure out how to get from here to there, or at least close enough that Richard could come out and find him.

Once he was certain she was asleep, Anderson got his maps out and looked for Saanichton Bay based on where he was. "Not so bad. Just leave the marina, sail around the edge, and out until I get close to the San Juan Islands. Then just stay west of Darcy Island, west of James Island, and head around the peninsula. After that, it's into the bay and call Richard.

"With just one sail, this might take some time. I need to check the weather in the morning. If it looks bad, I'm going to upset Libby. Hopefully, it will be clear, and then I'll find a place to drop anchor and tell Richard to come get me. Or at least let me follow him." He still needed to plot this so he could sail in the right direction and stay on course. Thankfully he had some sailing experience. It was part of why he got this boat, that and where it was located.

He still needed to get ready for tomorrow. So he had things he needed to do tonight before finally going to bed himself. He checked on Libby first to make sure she was all right. Given what he was betting she had seen, he was reasonably sure that a nightmare or two was coming his way.

O~O~O

Anderson had helped Libby get dressed after a quick visit to the bathroom.

"Let's get this life vest on you. We don't want you falling overboard; you'd get all wet!" Anderson had one, but it was a little big for her. Apparently, the son of the previous owner was a little bigger than her.

"I'm going to put you way forward and hook you up so you don't fall. Now your job is to yell at me if I'm about to run into something. Got it?" Anderson watched her nod solemnly. "Good girl. Your job is very important, so you have to keep your eyes wide open and yell really loud if you see anything."

Anderson took her far forward and hooked her up. "Stay right here and don't move. I have to untie us, take in all the bumpers, and take us out of the marina."

Where she was should be safe for her, but even if she yelled, he might not hear her. Where he had to be to sail this boat wasn't anywhere near her. He could see her at least. He wasn't going to hit anything, anyway.

Anderson used the small motor this boat had to get them away from the marina and hustled to take in all the dock bumpers. Then he raised one of the sails and hurried to kill the motor, monitor the sail, and his course.

Being alone for a ship of this size was a challenge, but it was just the one sail. So long as the wind didn't up and drastically change, he could handle it.

"KEEP WATCHING!" he called to her and kept an eye on her as a lookout, trying to see anything.

Later, Anderson set the autopilot. He went to get Libby and brought her back to him. "See anything?" He knew she hadn't but asked her anyway and watched her shake her head. "Good girl, you saved both of us." He just needed to keep an eye on his course, watch for Darcy Island, and stay far away from it.

O~O~O

Anderson felt Libby yank on his pants. "I'm hungry, Mr. Anderson."

"You know where the apples are, right?" Libby nodded. "Then you can go get one." He watched her leave him and scurry below to find the apples.

Pretty soon, she was back and sitting close to him, eating her apple. Once she was done he told her, "Throw it overboard. Feed the fish." Of course, Anderson didn't know if anything was going to eat what she hadn't, but it took care of what to do with it. What was an apple core in the grand scheme of things?

He had spotted her yawning. "Tired already?" She was really bored, not so much tired. This sailing wasn't nearly as fun as she thought it would be. It was actually rather dull.

"Why don't you go lay down on one of the lounge chairs, right back there?" He pointed behind them. There were two lounge chairs, two red chairs, and a large seating area aft of the boat, full of pillows.

Moments later, Anderson looked and saw that she was all curled up on the lounge chair. He risked it and ran down below, where he found a blanket and came back up to cover her. It was a bit cool out, and the wind the moving boat was generating wasn't helping.

O~O~O

Anderson was anchored just at the tip of the peninsula between the Cordova Channel and the Saanichton Bay. He picked up his satellite phone. Cell phones were unreliable these days. What most people might not be thinking was that cell phone towers required power. Now, most had an emergency generator that was usually natural gas-fired. Many of the generators probably still worked, but so long as the aliens didn't shoot down their satellites, what he had was more reliable.

A soft feminine voice answered the call. "Hello?"

"You sound like Alexis. This is Anderson; we spoke earlier."

"I remember. Let me find Dad." Alexis took off with the phone.

Eventually, he heard Richard. "What's up?" Rick wondered if he had learned something new and was willing to share.

"I'm anchored on the tip of the peninsula between Cordova Channel and the Saanichton Bay. If you want to, come and find me, and then take me closer, so I can join you. I don't require any of your supplies," Anderson assured him. "I have more than enough of my own for the two of us."

"I know where that is, Dad. Michael and I can go get him," Alexis said eagerly. "We can take the Cat. The weather's nice enough today."

Rick was conflicted. It wasn't that he was unwilling to add Anderson and Libby. So long as they had a place to stay, they were welcome. It was just that he didn't have room for them. And he only had just so much gas.

"He's still pretty far." The Cat was meant for short trips. The other boat was for rougher seas.

"We can do it," Alexis insisted. "What are we looking for?"

Anderson could hear her. "I have a 93-foot Phinisi Schooner. There's a red keel, black and green stripes, with red sails, none of which are out at the moment. There are four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, and what serves as a main room. We can stay on the boat," he told her. "I do have a small tender that has a motor."

"I think we can find that, Dad. It sounds big enough. Anderson, what's your draft?" Alexis asked since theirs was limited.

"Six feet."

"He can make it." Alexis knew that was shallow enough.

"It'll take you about an hour each way," Rick warned her.

"We don't want to use the fuel, and Michael and I can sail better than you, Dad."

"OUCH!" Rick took exception to that and heard Anderson laugh.

"Give us about an hour, we'll be there," Alexis told him. "Just look for a small white Catamaran with white sails."

"Got it. We'll keep our eyes peeled. And thanks. It'll be good to have some company for a change." Anderson thought that Libby would like it more. He didn't have a problem being alone all that much.

His only real issue was what Martha was going to say. She hadn't seen him in decades. His job meant she was safer not being around him, though it probably didn't matter now. The aliens had put an end to that. That didn't mean he hadn't watched from a distance. He even had information he could share with Homicide Detective Kate Beckett about one William H. Bracken.