2. Tangent

After delivering Yuji and Marlene to the forest outside of Baikonur space base, Dice Quaid had turned his car around to head toward…where?

There was nothing left for him at the old supply depot. Nothing but memories. Memories he had lived with for several years. Memories that had not only haunted his life, but controlled it.

Like Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, Dice Quaid had lived his life for revenge. Or, at least, had lived too much of his life for revenge.

Quaid had satiated his hunger for vengeance when he had dispatched the massive Land Whale type Blue that had taken away so much of his life…so much of his heart.

Unlike that famous literary Captain, Dice had lived beyond his revenge to face…what? To face a more daunting challenge than his thirst for revenge. To face the idea of living again.

After spending the night sleeping in his car—an open air jeep—Dice had contemplated his next move. That move had to be wrapped around finding a means of survival. He had lived off the food, fuel, and water of the supply depot for a long time. Without that depot he was going to have to grow, scavenge or heist the things he needed to live.

He was not going to find those things in the open wasteland of what had once been Russia. He also knew he did not want to head west or north. Both of those direction would take him toward what had been larger population centers.

Those areas were still population centers, but not for men. They had become the feeding grounds of The Blue; the voracious, gigantic insect-like monsters that had chased mankind from the surface of the planet.

The Blue ate everything with a particular love of artificial substances, such as houses and cars and bridges and Quik-E-Marts. Oh yes, they also liked to kill human beings, roll them into 'meat dumplings' and save them for a late-night snack.

No, the major population centers of Eurasia would not be the best places to hope for survival. Yet Dice knew he was going to have to find somewhere where humans used to live. Somewhere where he could find canned goods and drinking water for short term survival, then growing seeds to plant his own crops.

The result? Dice Quaid returned in the direction he had come. Or, rather, sort of. Instead of heading directly east, he headed southeast. His hope was to push through the wastelands of the Kazakhstan steppes and make it to the mountainous regions of southern Asia. Perhaps he could find a peaceful enclave in those mountains that would be hospitable to agriculture and hunting yet isolated enough to avoid the Blue (and the soldiers of Second Earth).

Unbeknownst to Dice, as he set off at dawn for the first stage of his new life, Yuji and Marlene were dodging fire from an automaton attacker on the outskirts of the space base.

In contrast, Dice cruised along at a nice clip for several hours, undisturbed by Blue or bad thoughts. Indeed, Quaid found himself deep in thought about the prospects of his new life. A new life that he embraced enthusiastically in no small part thanks to the jolt of energy he had received from being around Yuji and Marlene.

Those two crazy kids, Dice realized, were in love they just didn't know it yet. He hoped they lived long enough to find out. For some reason or another he was confident that they would.

In any case, his jeep kicked up a plume of dust as he rolled across the steppes of Kazakhstan. He saw no signs of man's old civilization. Even in the old days—the days before the Blue Apocalypse—this had not been a highly populated area.

Indeed, after three hours of driving he was still in the middle of nowhere.

That realization threw Dice from his dreams of quiet gardens and peaceful redoubts.

He leaned forward in his driver seat. The car appeared to be functioning just fine. No sign of Blue. It was possible that his luck was finally changing.

"Yep, and looky here," Dice spoke out loud to himself. "Still got…what? Three quarters a tank of gas."

Dice eased back in his seat and smiled to himself.

This is going just fine. Already off to a great start. Still got plenty of gas…yep…after three hours…hey…wait a sec…

His face knotted into a look of confusion as he remembered that when he had dropped Yuji and Marlene off he had checked the tank. It had been three quarters full. That had been hours ago. Hours of driving. Driving fast.

A sense of dread flooded into his body and drown away the happy thoughts.

He kept one hand on the wheel. With his other hand he slowly… cautiously…reached one finger toward the analog gas gauge on the dash board. His fingertip hovered there for a moment then, with a cringe, he tapped the glass.

The needle that had been stuck on the three-quarters mark plummeted. Fast. It blew past half full, fell like a rock beneath the one-quarter tank level, and didn't come to rest until it was actually under the "E" for empty symbol.

I have less gas than empty?

"Huh. Looks like I'm running low on—"

PHFFAAAT. KNOCK-KNOCK. PLUNK.

All power drained from the engine.

The jeep coasted forward across those empty, barren, lonely steppes in the middle of a dead continent. The speedometer hovered then began to drop nearly as fast as the fuel gauge needle had. The plume of dust kicked from the wheels thinned less…less…nothing.

The car came to a dead halt in the middle of a wide open stretch of land with nothing but open air and vacant grassland all around.

"Oh crap."

-

The first thing Dice Quaid did when he realized he had run out of gas in the middle of inhospitable wasteland was have a smoke. He sat in the jeep for a good ten minutes savoring one of the last of his homemade cigs. It just seemed like the thing to do.

While the pleasure centers of his brain reacted to the satiation of his minor addiction, the rest of his mind contemplated his next move. From what he could tell, he was surrounded by a whole lot of nothing.

To the west and northwest, he knew, there were only the same monotonous plains of dust and grassland. To his north, a few major cities that had long ago kicked out the old human tenants and replaced them with the Blue. He figured there was probably a nice supply of gasoline, canned food, and other survival needs in some of those cities. He also knew that he'd last all of five minutes if he dared trespass.

Then again, old Dicey-boy, you're probably only going to last another five hours out here in this heat, what with one more good swig of water left in that canteen.

Far off to the east—way in the horizon—was an imposing mountain range. To the southeast (the direction he had been traveling) there was something that might be of use.

It was a highway. Or, rather, a cracked, pothole-ridden, dead-car littered stretch of fading concrete that had past for a highway in the days when Kazakhstan had held more people than buzzards. Now it became a vein of hope for Dice Quaid.

A plan came to mind. He would follow that road to some small, abandoned town. There he would find food stuffs and, of course, a well-stocked gas station. He'd fill up his can and then make his way back to the car. Those five gallons would then be enough fuel to drive to that same gas station and fill up the rest of the tank.

And put some grease on the damn fuel gauge needle, too.

Dice had smiled to himself. It was good to have a plan. Then he had grabbed the empty, rectangular five-gallon emergency fuel container from the rear of the Jeep, slung his rifle over his shoulders, and marched toward the southeast…toward that life line…as he put his well-conceived plan into notion.

-

"God damn it! God damn it!"

Dice fired his rifle again. The shot found the exposed core on the front of the monstrous Blue. This particular one was of the same type as the other three carcasses that laid motionless and oozed gore outside the gas station; it was a Chopper.

It looked like a cock roach with scythe-like mandibles. It was also about the size of a commuter bus.

The Chopper slumped to the ground with red chum flowing from its obliterated core—the only weak spot on an otherwise armor-plated body. If you lived on the surface of the Earth in those days you learned a certain knack for hitting Blue core…or you didn't 'live' for long on the surface of the Earth.

The town Dice had found was little more than an oversized rest stop along side that cracked and littered slab of concrete. Yet in its day the town (a sign called it "Chelkar") had been home to a decent-sized population.

Dice knew this because only towns with decent-sized populations warranted a full blown Blue nest.

Fortunately that nest was on the far side of town. Unfortunately the clip of ammunition Dice had expended to protect himself had produced enough sound to echo across the otherwise silent landscape.

Blue, Dice knew, were always listening for sounds. The sound of vehicles, the sound of voices, the sound of machinery, and especially the sound of gun fire. All of those sounds meant humans were somewhere nearby. And while Dice Quaid did not understand all of the complexities of the Blue's rise to prominence on the Earth, he did understand that the damn things existed for one reason: exterminate mankind.

Dice hurried to the gas station that sat nestled among a series of small shops and grocery stores a few hundred yards off the highway. The town of Chelkar—rather, the broken and burnt ruins of what had once been a small, quaint town—stretched off to the east and north. The streets that had once been home to cars and children and families were now home to wrecks and big green balls nicknamed 'meat dumplings.'

Dice knew that within those globs were people. Sometimes just one, sometimes two or three rolled together. They were dead, of course—well beyond any hope of salvation. Eventually when the Blue got tired of eating concrete and glass they would start snacking on the dumplings.

In any case, Dice put aside his thoughts of the looming Blue nest and the long-dead people and raced to the gas pumps, tank in one hand and his rifle stowed over his shoulder.

The pumps were empty.

That just screws the pooch now don't it?

Dice closed his eyes and listened to the wind rattle over the splintered and twisted roof tops. In the distance, far off, he could hear the footsteps of Blue marching forward from their nest.

He breathed in deep, exhaled in a sigh, grabbed the gas can, and hurried off at a fast jog. He then followed the high way further to the south east.

Stage one of the plan had come up short. Yet he rationalized that if he were lucky he might find another town. Somewhere…with gas…

-

Another town, another swarm of Blue. This time instead of simply retreating, Dice ran. Well, he fired and ran. He fired and ran away from the so-called highway and away from his hopes of finding some monument to civilization hat might hold the answers to his problems.

He ran into the mountains. More specifically, he found a path that rose away from the barren steps and into the charcoal and green mountain range that sprouted from the landscape like the crest of a wave over a calm sea.

Fortunately, the Blue were no longer in pursuit. Either they considered him not worth the trouble or Dice had managed to blast the last of the pursuers that were aware of his proximity. Good thing, too, because he was down to the last of his bullets. About the only weapon he had left was the empty gas can and he was more inclined to start banging that over his own head.

So he climbed into the mountains. He was not exactly sure what he was hoping to find, but water would be a good start. He had downed that last swig from his canteen an hour prior.

If that weren't bad enough, Dice knew that the sun was entering its last phase as afternoon morphed into evening. It would not be long before there would be nothing but night and stars overhead. That meant it was going to get cold. He had no survival gear, no blankets. He was dressed only in his old, black military tunic and that was short-sleeved.

Nonetheless, he climbed the path into the mountains. There were fields about and rocky cliffs ad well as the occasional small patch of sad-looking forest.

Dice stopped in the middle of an almost tunnel-like gorge of rock on one side and rock again on the other. It was a lonely little passage across the desolate mountain range.

His legs ached, his heart pounded from all the running and walking, and his stomach was so empty it hurt.

He looked around then sat on a round, jagged boulder that poked into his butt yet was the closet thing to a seat he could find. He dropped the gas container and put his face in his hands.

Well this is it, Dice. This is a good place to die, I suppose. Just sit here and wait for night. It'll get cold and freezing to death is a lot better than being crunched into a meat dumpling. Dying won't be fun, but it don't seem like I've got anything better to do.

He sat with his eyes covered and listened. He listened to the distant whip of the wind as it cut across the mountain range. He heard the soft jingle of a…huh?

Soft jingle?

Dice pulled his eyes from his hands.

The jingle grew louder. A hollow jingle. More like a light clang. Maybe even a distorted ring.

Something was moving on the path ahead. It came around a bend past a batch of dead thickets. In the dark it was hard to make out…hard to see…

It was a goat.

There was a bell around its neck. A bell affixed to a collar. It jingled, clanged, and otherwise rang as the animal hobbled along.

"Bahhh."

The creature stopped in front of Dice. A piece of torn rope was attached to that collar as well.

"Well hello there, dinner."

Dice's first inclination, of course, was to eat the goat. However, his mind made the obvious connection. This animal was part of a herd. It had gotten away from that herd. If he retraced its steps maybe he would find people. If he found people they might have water and blankets and, yes, goats to eat.

Dice smiled.

"Well howabout that?" he said to the goat.

"Baahhh."

Dice took his gas can in one hand and the goat's leash in the other. He then continued along the mountain path in the direction the goat had come.

Half and hour later he found the goat's home.

There was a camp nestled on a grassy plateau in the midst of the mountains. It was a camp of horses and sheep and goats; of tents and people.

The camp fires were just starting as darkness swept away the last flickers of day light. However, those camp fires had apparently not been the only fires.

Several of the tents were damaged, some by fire others had simply been torn down. Some of the live stock had been slaughtered, too and more than one of the cloth-dressed humans of the camp wore bandages or slings.

This camp was recovering from an attack. No doubt that attack had been the reason the goat had managed to get free.

"Um…he…hey! Hey there!"

Dice waved from the bank above the bowl-like stretch of field where the wounded camp was based. Several of the humans down there—there were a couple of dozen—scattered and ran. Two others raised rifles and raced to intercept the newcomer.

"Hey! Easy does it! I'm a friend! Don't shoot! Right? I brought your goat back…"

While the two armed campers carefully approached Dice and the goat, a third man—much older—moved to join the welcoming party. Quaid took a few tentative steps down the embankment. One hand held the goat's leash, the other held the gas can far out from his body so that the jumpy goat herders knew he was not reaching for the rifle slung over his shoulder.

Between what remained of the sun overhead and what emanated from the camp fires there was barely enough light for Dice to recognize these people. And barely enough light for them to recognize him.

"We know this man," the elder said calmly. "You are the one for whom Yuji left our caravan and broke my daughter's heart."

"Huh? Oh, hey, yeah, you guys are with Elena's group, right? Sure. Boy, isn't it just something for us to meet up again like this? Seems like it was just meant to be."

Dice smiled hopefully.

The guns aimed at his noggin.

One of the rifle wielding men had jet black hair and a scar on his cheek. He spoke to the older man with an edge in his voice that gave Dice the creeps.

"We should kill him. He's nothing but trouble.'
"Oh, now, no I'm not. See? Yeah, that's right, I brought your goat back. Why don't we all just be friends like?"

The older man rested his hand on the edgy guy's rifle and gently pushed it downward.

"This man is not our enemy, Daven. We have had enough violence today and he has brought home a wayward member of our flock."

Daven would have preferred to have shot Dice, but he followed the elder's orders and backed off.

The other man also lowered his rifle then took the goat from Dice's care.

"Say, ah, like I don't mean to be ungrateful for not shooting me and all, but, I mean, you got any eats?"

-

Dice took another big bite of flat bread and washed it down with a cup of meade. He knew the night was cold but the flames of the fire offered a circle of heat that warmed the very marrow in his bones.

Elena's father sat at the fire as did Daven and a handful of others. The nomads had been thankful for the return of their goat, thankful enough to share their food and drink and conversation.

Dice continued that conversation while chewing a big chunk of bread. His empty gas container sat next to him as if it might too enjoy the warmth of the fire.

"So, ah, the fellas who roughed you up. Where they the same guys that had the mech before? The ones Yuji chased away? What was that all about?"

Elena's father was named Jordan. There was no denying that he was the patriarch of the simply clan. An elder wise man who spoke quietly and with great weight.

Jordan answered.

"The thugs who assaulted our caravan were not the same as the mercenaries who attacked us a few days ago. No, they were a different breed."

"Oh, yeah, different breed," Dice in an off-hand manner as his maw clomped down on another chunk of bread.

"Say, uh, I haven't seen, uh, Elena around since I got here. Is she holding up okay? Real shame about what happened with Yuji and all."

Dice continued to eat and drink. He was so absorbed by his hunger that it took several long seconds before he realized no one had answered. He lifted his head out from the food in his hands and looked around the camp fire.

Jordan's eyes were cast low. The others were silent, too.

"Huh? What'd I say?"

"Mister Quaid, they took my daughter. They took my precious Elena."

"What? Who took her?"

"The men who attacked our camp earlier today. They kidnapped her."

Dice's appetite sunk.

There were many things to be said of Dice Quaid. He was loud, he drank too much, and often times he did not take life seriously enough. Maybe that was because the way he figured it, he should have died a long time ago. Every minute he still breathed breath was another added bonus.

But he was not heartless.

That Elena, she had seemed like a very nice girl. And while he had known from the start that she was not the right fit for Yuji (Marlene was the right fit for Yuji if only the knucklehead would figure it out!), she was sweet and nice and had a good heart. He had seen that right away. Just as he had seen right away that Marlene Angel was not as lacking of a heart as she had seemed.

"Man, oh man, why would some fellas want to go and do that?"

Daven answered quickly with that same edge in his voice. An edge that was highly suspicious of one Dice Quaid.

"What do you care? It's none of your concern."

Jordan answered before Dice could take too much offense.

"The men who attacked us, they work for Vladimir Zhukov. He is a bad man. A cold man. He is also a powerful man. He has a home and many weapons and several men who work under him."

"Vladimir Zhukov…hmm…" Dice rolled the name around on his tongue. It did not summon any memories.

"Never heard of him. Guess I don't know everybody yet."

"You don't want to know Zhukov," Elena's father said in a voice that belied the concern of a father. "He is a dangerous man. There is no way we could fight such a man. We have but a few guns and none of my people are trained soldiers. We are but…we are but simple goat herders and nomads."

"Yep," Dice scratched his head. "You all got it real nice around here. Except, of course, um, for your daughter getting kidnapped and all. Say, why do you think this Vladimir guy went and did that?"

Jordan shared a look with Daven, then returned his eyes to Quaid.

"Zhukov has a son, about the same age as Elena. I believe he plans to force her to marry him."

Dice's face corkscrewed at the very thought.

"What? Well, now, that just isn't right at all."

"No, Mr. Quaid, it is not right. I'm glad you feel that way."

"Huh?"

Suddenly Dice felt somewhat ill at ease.

Jordan turned to those around the campfire.

"Leave us. I have things to discuss with our guest. Things to discuss that are only for his ears."

Almost all of those around the campfire left. The remaining chunk of bread in Dice's hand and his cup were gently taken from him by one of the young ladies. Dice had a look akin to a puppy dog seeing the promise of a treat revoked.

Still, he did not voice his protest.

Jordan turned to the only one of his people still remaining, Daven.

"You too, Daven."

The man with the scar stood in fashion that clearly demonstrated anger.

"You're not thinking of asking him to..? That's a mistake. You shouldn't involve him in our affairs. He's an outsider."

"Enough," Jordan raised his hand while his word carried more force than any he had spoken previously.

"This is none of your affair Daven. You are new to our group. Go and get some sleep."

Dice sat quietly while Daven struggled to control his anger then stomped off.

"Seems like he's a little fired up, there, huh?" Dice said.

"He's an asshole," Elena's father said plainly.

Dice shrugged and admitted, "Yeah, well, he might be right and all. I suppose your business is your business and I shouldn't be sticking my—"

"Can you rescue my daughter?"

"Huh?"

The elder man's eyes looked upon Dice Quaid with sadness and hope all rolled together.

"Mr. Quaid, you are a man of violence. I mean no offense, understand."

"Oh, hey, yeah, none taken. I suppose I am a man of, well, violence. Not of my choosing, you know?"

"Yes, but you are or at least you were a soldier. You are strong and I would imagine that you have a warrior's wisdom. I ask you now…I plead with you…can you sneak into Zhukov's home and save my daughter from a forced marriage? Would you do this for an old man? I know…I know that as much as Yuji chose the blonde haired scary woman over my lovely daughter, I know he would still wish you to help us."

Dice scratched his chin.

"Well, huh, I guess you're right on that. But here's the thing, it's sorta like this. My plan is to keep on heading south east and find myself some where to hold up in the hills or something. I mean, the only reason I even bumped into you guys is because I ran out of gas."

Dice wrapped his arm around the empty gas container as if he were giving an old buddy a hug. He added a polite chuckle at the end of his sentence.

While Dice and Jordan sat along in the ring of light around the fire, Daven watched from the shadows. He watched with a glaring eye cast at Dice Quaid and a nervous tremble in his hands.

He glanced left then right then pulled a small device from under his hand-wove cloth tunic. The device was a transmitter.

Daven worked the switch. He used the palm of his hand to shield the glow of the red power light from any prying eyes. Fortunately most of the eyes that might pry were off singing folks songs or making preparations for a night's sleep.

The man with the scar on his face spoke into the transmitter.

"This is hidden goose calling rooster's nest. Come in rooster's nest."

Daven had to repeat his call several more times before a static-filled voice answered.

"This is rooster's nest. Go ahead, um, hidden duck."

"Goose."

"Go ahead hidden goose."

"We've got a problem. There's a new player in town. Someone we'd better reign in real fast."

While Daven held his clandestine conversation, Dice and Elena's father finished their discussion.

"I know where you can find some gas, Mr. Quaid. I know of a hidden depot not too far from here. I'll even give you one of our horses to speed your journey. But only if you save my Elena first. Save her from this brute."

"Look, uh, I'd really like to help. Sure I would. Nobody likes to be the hero more than me. But the way you describe this Zhukov fella, well it sound to me like you're gunna need a squad of Mechs and air support to get past his guys. And I've got a whole new plan on life; that is, I'd like to keep on living it as long as I can, you see?"

Dice could tell that the man—the father—could not see. The elder's fists clenched and his face turned red. Jordan stood.

Daven watched from the shadows. He had not heard most of the conversation but he did hear the older man's voice.

"Go. Go now. Don't let us keep you any longer from your plan. It sounds very clever this plan of yours. I hope it works for you. Good luck."

Daven nearly growled in anger. The old man had brought this outsider in. No doubt this Dice Quaid was not above a little mercenary work.

"Well you won't get your chance, Mr. Quaid," Daven muttered to himself.

Dice stood, grabbed his gas can, and walked away from the fire.

"Why you don't waste any time, do you?" Daven whispered again.

Dice walked away from the warmth of the fire and into the night.

-

The good news for Dice was that he had a full belly. The bad news was that he was back out in the cold and in desperate need of finding shelter for the night. He had already wandered through the mountainside for an hour with no sign of good shelter.

A few minutes prior he had heard what had sounded like a vehicle engine. But the acoustics of the jagged rock peaks and rolling hills conspired to hide the source from his ears.

He turned a bend in a lonely path and walked among a field of boulders.

"This is just great, Dice. Just great. What have you gone and done to yourself?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a figure jumped out at him on the path ahead. That figure held a flash light and shined it right in Dice's eyes.

"Hey, whoa, easy with that light there…"

"You're something else, Quaid. The old man sends you off to rescue Elena and you don't even wait the night to get started. You must be really good to head off toward Zhukov's with nothing but on rifle and a gas can. You must be a god damn super soldier."

"Um? Huh?"

Dice heard a noise from behind. In the split second between when his mind yelled trap! and his body turned to look he felt a sharp electric jolt in his ribs.

His muscles grew weak, his legs wobbled, and a the lights went out as a heavy burlap bag was shoved over his head.