Capital Run

Chapter Fifteen

“What do you think happened to him?” Lex asked.

“I don’t know,” Rikki-Tikki-Tavi responded.

The Warrior was concerned for the safety of his friend. He’d heard the hubbub caused by the Leather Knights in the adjacent hallway, and it was easy to figure out Blade’s selfless sacrifice in diverting the Knights away from the passage leading to the alley.

“What are we going to do?” Lex questioned him.

“Wait,” Rikki told her.

“For what?”

“Until Blade returns,” Rikki said.

“What if he doesn’t?”

“Then we go looking for him,” Rikki stated.

They were crouched along the hallway wall not ten feet from the exit to the alley. The Knights hadn’t bothered to install a door at the end of the hallway. The opening permitted brilliant sunlight to flood the hall for over 20 yards.

Lex glanced at the exit: so inviting, so tempting, so close! One quick dash and she would gain her freedom. She looked at the lean man beside her, his face in profile as he gazed down the hallway hoping to see the big one called Blade. She remembered the pained look on his face when Terza had been using her for target practice. Her feminine intuition sensed he cared, and she found herself delighted at the prospect. “You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?” she asked.

Rikki nodded.

“How long have you know him?”

“All of my life,” Rikki stated. “He’s only a year older than I am. We were childhood friends and we grew to manhood together. We even selected the same path.”

“The same path?” Lex repeated.

“Yes. The path of the Warrior,” Rikki said. “Blade is the head of the Warriors. I will not depart St. Louis without him.”

Lex could detect the undisguised affection in Rikki’s tone. “Are there many of you Warriors?” she asked, keeping her voice low.

“Fifteen,” Rikki disclosed.

“Why are you called Warriors?”

Rikki glanced at her. “My people are known as the Family. We live in a walled compound far away. The man responsible for constructing the compound and gathering the subsequent survivors of the war together knew they would require protection. He knew civilization would crumble after World War III. He predicted society would revert to primitive levels, and he was right. To safeguard the Family from the scavengers, the marauding bands of killers, and mutates, and others, he formed a special corps of fighters and designated them as the Warriors. For over one hundred years the Warriors have defended the Family from all attackers.

We take a solemn oath, and any one of us would give our life in the performance of our duty.”

“Why did you want to be a Warrior?” Lex asked.

“It is my nature,” Rikki responded simply.

“I don’t understand.”

“No two individuals are alike,” Rikki elaborated. “No two of us have the same personality, the same characteristics, or the same abilities. Our natures are essentially different. My Family is an excellent example. Some of us prefer to be Tillers of the soil. Others choose to be Weavers, or Healers, or Empaths, or Blacksmiths. Each according to his or her nature. I wanted to become a Warrior because it was inherent in my personality. The Family Elders don’t force anyone into a vocation against his or her will. They encourage each of us to find our particular calling and devote our talents to it.” He paused. “It wasn’t always this way. I’ve read some history books detailing life before the Big Blast—”

“The Big Blast?”

“That’s what the Family calls World War III,” Rikki explained. “Before the war, society tried to mold every individual into a set pattern. Every aspect of their lives was strictly regulated by countless laws. Amazingly, the people back then considered themselves to be free. The irony is, it took a nuclear war to actually liberate them.”

“You don’t sound like you would have been too happy back then,” Lex remarked.

“I wouldn’t have been,” Rikki admitted. “I would have resented every intrusion on my freedom. Why, they even passed laws making it illegal to carry a weapon in public! Can you imagine that?”

“Why would they do such a thing?”

“Because they wanted the populace as docile as cattle,” Rikki said bitterly. “Their society was overrun by criminals and degenerates, but the so-called leaders wouldn’t allow the people to carry weapons to defend themselves. The leaders claimed it would promote vigilantism.”

“What’s that?”

“That’s where the average person stands up to someone who is threatening them in some way.”

“And the leaders didn’t want that?” Lex asked, perplexed.

“Not according to my teacher, Plato,” Rikki said. “You see, such an attitude promotes independence. If people can supply their own needs and defend themselves from the violent defectives, then they don’t have any need for anyone else to tell them how to live, what they should wear and eat and think. No, the leaders were afraid of vigilantism. They were frightened by self-reliant individualism. So they stifled initiative and suppressed creativity.” He frowned. “No, I would never have fit in back then. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-social by any standard. I believe in peaceful relations with all men and women. But a lot of degenerates don’t feel the same way. They’d slit your throat as soon as look at you.” He smiled at her. “And I would never permit that.”

Lex recognized the compliment. “You’ve given this a lot of thought,” she noted.

“What use is a mind if you don’t use it?” Rikki rejoined.

“What’s it like?” Lex inquired. “This place you’re from.”

Rikki sighed. “You’d enjoy it. We all believe in the ideal of loving our neighbor and serving the Spirit. We may argue about various issues, but overall our relations are harmonious. Far better than anything I’ve seen anywhere else.”

“It sounds like a dream come true,” Lex said.

“Would you like to go there?” Rikki asked her.

Lex brightened. “Would they let me come?”

“They would welcome you with open arms,” Rikki confirmed.

“Especially if you had a sponsor in the Family.”

“What’s a sponsor?”

“Someone in the Family who vouches for your integrity.”

“Who—” Lex began.

“I would,” Rikki said quickly.

“You’d do that for me?”

Rikki nodded and stared down the hallway.

Now the exit to the alley was even more appealing.

Lex wanted to flee the library, the leave St. Louis far behind. Rikki’s home seemed too good to be true. She wanted to live to find out for herself. “What’s this place where you’re from called?”

“The Home.”

“The Home?” Lex giggled. “Where else would the Family live, right?”

Rikki grinned.

“You must have a lot of friends there,” Lex stated.

“Many close friends,” Rikki affirmed.

“Tell me about them,” she urged him.

“Most of my closest friends are Warriors like myself,” Rikki said. “You’ll meet them. There’s Geronimo, who took his name after an Indian chief of long, long ago. One of them is named Hickok, the Family’s supreme gunfighter.”

“Is he better with guns than you?” Lex interjected.

“Much better,” Rikki acknowledged. “His expertise with guns, particularly handguns, is sensational. We have a Warrior called Yama, and he’s good with every weapon. Teucer specializes in the bow. Others excel with different weapons.”

“What are you best with?”

“A katana,” Rikki said. “My instructors felt I was the best martial artist in the family. Consequently, I qualified to possess the katana.”

“What’s a martial artist?”

Rikki stared at her. “Someone skilled in hand-to-hand combat and with Oriental weaponry.”

“What’s hand-to-hand combat? Punching somebody’s lights out?”

Rikki chuckled. “My answer was rather simplistic. A martial artist is adept in the science of unarmed and armed combat. It’s more than just knowing how to punch somebody’s lights out. It’s a way of life, a discipline in which you become the ultimate master of yourself. A perfected martial artist is at one with his Maker, with the universe, and with himself.

Sublime control enables you to live without fear. You achieve an inner peace, and this is reflected in your relations with others.”

“This is all a little over my head,” Lex admitted.

“I can teach you if you want,” Rikki offered.

Their eyes met, and a mutual tenderness was silently shared.

“You never did tell me,” Lex said after a bit, “why you picked such a strange name?”

“It was the logical choice,” Rikki said. “The Founder of our Home encouraged all of his followers to learn from the mistakes humankind had perpetuated in the past. He was afraid we would lose sight of the stupidity behind the war. So he started the Naming at age sixteen. All Family members, when they turn sixteen, are allowed to pick any name they want from any of the books in our vast library. This way, the Founder hoped, we wouldn’t forget our roots. At first, they used only the history books. But now any book is okay. I took my name from a story concerning an animal known as a mongoose.”

“A mongoose?”

“Small animals,” Rikki said. “They were used in a country called India to protect their families from deadly snakes known as cobras.”

“So that’s why you took the name!”

“Yes. It fits my chosen profession,” Rikki stated.

They lapsed into a short silence.

“What about you?” Rikki finally asked. “I’ve told you a lot about myself. Tell me something about your life.”

Lex shrugged, her green eyes betraying a hint of sadness. “What’s to tell? I was raised by my mom and dad in the northwest part of the city. When I was fifteen, one of the sisters nominated me to become a Knight. I was thrilled. I thought it was the biggest honor there was.”

“Now you don’t think so?”

“No!” Lex said, her voice hardening. “They fed me all that garbage about women being superior to men when I was young, and I believed it. I ran roughshod over the studs like all of the other sisters. But something happened.”

“What?”

“The older I got,” Lex said bitterly, “the more I realized how sick the situation was. I mean, here we have all of these women bossing the men around like the males are the scum of the earth. No love. No deep feelings.

No caring. Just the sisters and their sex toys. I knew the studs didn’t respect us. In fact, I suspect they downright hate us. And I grew real tired of the whole trip.”

“Is that why you wanted to leave the Leather Knights?” Rikki inquired.

Lex nodded, her red hair bobbing. “I just knew there must be a better place somewhere else. I planned to sneak out of the city, and my friend Mira agreed to come along. But you saw how far we got.”

“How do the other residents of St. Louis feel about the Knights?” Rikki probed.

“They have to tolerate it because the Leather Knights protect them from outsiders,” Lex detailed. “A lot of the people have what you might call normal families, but the sisters look down their noses at any woman who shares her life with a man. And the sisters never miss a chance to feed their lies to the little girls. Believe me, if a girl is told year after year that all men are scuzz, that men only want one thing from a woman and the only way to keep them in line is to make them into slaves, then the girl starts to accept all of this as true. I know. It happened to me.”

“Do any of the other sisters feel the way you do?”

“Lots,” Lex replied. “But they’re too scared to defy Terza. They know what happens to traitors.”

“Why is it,” Rikki asked, “one sex is always trying to dominate the other? Why can’t men and women learn to live in a state of mutual cooperation instead of antagonistic bickering?”

“How do the men and women get along at your Home?” Lex asked.

“We have our problems,” Rikki said. “But from what I’ve seen, we relate much better than many men and women elsewhere. I don’t think either side views the other as some sort of sex object. We’re taught in the Family school to always seek for the inner beauty in every person. Having big breasts or a handsome face isn’t a social advantage in the Family.”

“I can’t wait to see this Home of yours,” Lex declared longingly.

“You will,” Rikki promised. He stood and stretched his legs. “It’s time to go.”

“Where are we going?”

Rikki pointed down the hallway. “After Blade.”

“Can’t we give him more time?”

“No,” Rikki said. “I’ve waited too long as it is. We’ll search this building from top to bottom, every square inch. Do you have any idea where he could be?”

“You mean if they caught him?” Lex pondered a moment. “He might be in the holding cell, or maybe they’re going to feed him to Grotto. Or Terza could be playing fun and games with him.”

“We’ll try the holding cell first,” Rikki advised.

Lex took a deep breath and straightened. “I’m right behind you,” she said, although she silently wished she were far away at Rikki’s Home, where it was safe, where the men and women weren’t constantly at each other’s throats, where everyone tried to love one another.

Funny.

She’d assumed she was too mature to believe in fairy tales.

Lex shrugged her shoulders and stuck to Rikki’s heels as he retraced their steps into the gloomy interior of the structure.