The Orion Effect

by Christine Myles

Part Two

 

They emerged onto a wide downtown street in what appeared to be a moderately upscale shopping district. Their initial impression that it was thronging with people was accurate. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people were milling about, many clutching bottles, joints, pipes, and other intoxicants. All seemed to be wearing brightly colored costumes.

"My God," murmured Nikki, "It looks like the Carnival in Rio!"

They continued, unmolested and almost unnoticed, through the hordes, gazing in wonder about them. A large flatbed truck had been parked in the middle of the road, hung with bunting and balloons, on which a large sound system had been set up. Most of the rest of the space on the trailer was taken up my milling, carousing dancers in various stages of undress. Most wore brightly colored wigs, makeup and clothing, and outrageous footwear. Nikki pointed out—though it was scarcely necessary—that at least some of the scantily clad and bewigged dancers were male.

"There sure seem to be a lot of cross-dressers around," she commented, "I'm starting to feel a lot less special."

"Well, if it's any consolation," replied David, "You're definitely the best looking one I've seen so far!"

Nikki grinned shyly, "Thanks!"

They emerged into an area where the main road branched into a Y; in between was a huge, park-like area of wide lawns, lush, landscaped gardens, palmettos and palm trees. This appeared to be ground zero for the festivities. At the far end of the park, barely visible through the massed revelers, was a huge stage on which another enormous sound system had been mounted. Center stage, a salsa band was cranking out some Latin rhythms at high volume to the masses of frenzied, dancing humanity. There even appeared to be a generator truck off to one side, likely powering the set up, and here and there among the crowds the smoke of many barbeques curled up through the torpid air; it appeared that this was a fairly well organized event.

As they roamed through the crowd, it became evident that many of the participants were not dancing, at least, not vertically. They stepped over a naked couple locked in a passionate embrace, then another. They skirted a threesome engaged in what appeared to be some sort of sexually charged gymnastic event, then almost immediately blundered into the periphery of what appeared to be a giant orgy. They gazed around in wonder. Virtually every kind of sex appeared to be represented in all its permutations, gay, straight, fetish, BDSM, and many others that might not even have a name. Erotic clothing was everywhere, both on and off the participants; some of it was strewn across the grass, or hanging from the shrubbery. Lingerie, rubber, leather, satin and lace, myriad boots and shoes with improbably high heels, there was every kind of fetish-wear imaginable. It was sensory overload, and David began to feel a little... lightheaded, if that's what you call it. Nikki's eyes were nearly popping out of her head.

And by no means were the provocative lingerie, extravagant heels and outrageous makeup limited to the female participants. Here, as back on the street, cross-dressers seemed to be everywhere.

"Do you get the impression," said David laconically, "That everyone's partying like it's the end of the world?"

"Funny boy," said Nikki sardonically, "What was the giveaway? The public sex, the clothing, the wild abandon?"

They changed course to sidestep two attractive women in garter belts, stockings, bras and high heels who were entwined in a Laocoön embrace, their mouths on each other's... Oh. Okay, so they're not women...

"Can you believe this?" said Nikki in awe, "I would never have thought there were this many transgendered people in the entire city!"

David shrugged, "It's an eye opener, isn't it?"

They neared one of the barbeques and watched, standing discreetly to one side. There were several chefs working frenziedly in close rotation behind the grills, but everyone simply seemed to be grabbing what they wanted and nobody appeared to care, nor did anyone ask for money. Nikki and David approached, and hamburgers were thrust into their hands from anonymous donors. Someone else tossed bottles of beer in their direction and they caught them. They looked at each other in wonder, then shrugged in unison.

"My kind of party!" said David, "Well... more or less."

They ate and drank, while the festivities continued to churn around them on all sides.

"What next?" asked Nikki through a mouthful of hamburger.

"How about over there?" replied David, pointing. A short distance away, a bank of wide-screen televisions had been set up, showing a variety of programs. Many appeared to be playing erotic videotapes or DVDs, but some seemed to be tuned to on-air broadcasts. They walked over, curious.

"I can't believe that there are still networks broadcasting. Where do they find the staff?" mused David, and pointed to one of the screens, "Hey, there's... Holy shit!"

A popular local news anchor and his female associate were sitting side by side behind the studio news desk, the familiar backdrop and logo behind them; it was all weirdly normal, except...

"My God!" exclaimed Nikki, "He's in drag too! I can't believe this? What the hell's going on?"

The news anchor was certainly looking his—or her—best, in a stylish midnight blue blazer and white linen blouse, with gold earrings and necklace, well-applied makeup, and a subdued, businesslike wig. His female partner was not faring so well; as he read the news in his usual calm and authoritative manner, she gazed sideways at him with ill-concealed shock and disgust.

"I have it!" yelled David suddenly, snapping his fingers, "I know what this is! This ain't reality man, this is the fucking Twilight Zone! Where's Rod Serling? Where is he?" he looked frantically about. "'Presented for your consideration," he went on, doing a creditable impersonation of the show's longtime host, "a world in which gender has lost its meaning, where sex on the street is as common as bird shit on a statue...'"

"Yeah, yeah, right," said Nikki, looking worried, "Look, David, I need to get out of here, now. This whole thing has a weird vibe to it. I mean, everyone's partying and having fun right now, but look... nobody's got a damn thing to lose, right? I get the definite feeling that this whole thing could turn ugly in the blink of an eye. Let's go, okay? Please!"

David glanced around as if testing the air, squinting in the bright sunshine at the milling throngs of humanity, dancing, weaving around drunkenly, or engaging in astonishing sexual acts wherever a clear patch of grass presented itself. The mood did have a slightly crazed feel to it; it was just a little too frenzied, too wild, too "close to the edge"...

"Okay," he said decisively, "You got it, hon. Let's go."

'Hon?' he thought to himself, startled, where did that come from? But there was little time for reflection. It was going to take all of their wits to get out of the park and back to the truck without incident.

The crowds appeared to have become denser, and it was slow going. The sun was beginning to move closer to the tops of the surrounding buildings, and shadows were creeping slowly out toward the park. Despite the heat, the air felt suddenly chilly, and they quickened their pace.

They left the park and hurried along the wide main street they'd come in on. It was still crowded, but it seemed that many of the revelers had moved from the streets into the park, like moths drawn to a flame. Nikki pointed out evidence of widespread looting as they passed by several upscale clothing, jewelry, electronics and sporting goods stores. Interestingly, the most heavily ransacked stores invariably seemed to be the women's clothing, lingerie and jewelry shops, most of which had been cleaned to the bare walls. They passed a home entertainment outlet; all of the big-screen TVs and high-end stereos were missing, presumably now in the park or on the streets, but much of the other merchandise was still intact. A bookstore seemed to have retained nearly all of its inventory, though most of it was strewn about the floor and on the sidewalk.

They passed by the flatbed truck on which the flamboyant dancers had danced. There were fewer, but the surrounding party was still in full swing. Several of the dancers beckoned to them, and one reached down toward Nikki, plucking at her clothing as she walked by. Startled, she fled in alarm, and David ran along beside her. They didn't stop running until they reached the corner of the street where they'd left the truck.

Thankfully, they found that nobody had discovered it in their absence. The palm fronds were still intact, and nothing seemed to have been disturbed. They pushed the foliage off the truck and jumped in. Nikki gunned the engine and headed down toward the street they'd come in on. They gained the freeway without incident.

Cruising in silence along the now-deserted road, they aimed the truck north, back toward Palomar. The city receded behind them. To the west, the sun was working its way lower through the dusty haze; long shadows fell slantingly across the road, and the air became cooler.

Then David glanced back toward the city, its towers now nearly lost in the mist.

"Oh my God!" he breathed. Behind them, billowing upward through the gritty haze, a broad, towering smoke plume loomed over the city center, inky black, and menacing.

Nikki glanced back too. She was silent for a moment, then looked at David, dread in her eyes.

"That looks like it's coming from the downtown... near where we were..."

"I know," said David somberly.

"God. I wonder what happened... All those people... What do you think..." she trailed off, a look of worry on her face, "Well, whatever it was, I'm really glad we're out of there. That place was starting to freak me out." She looked at him meaningfully. "You know, we might have just dodged a bullet."

They pondered this in silence.

"Hey," David said after a few minutes, "Maybe, now that you're a woman, your feminine intuition is becoming more acute." He grinned wryly.

"Maybe," Nikki replied seriously.

"So, where are we going now?" she asked a minute or so later, "Back to Palomar?"

"I don't know. It kind of reminds me of a question my guidance counselor used to ask me all the time in high school, 'What do you want to do with the rest of your life?' I guess we're kind of faced with that decision now, aren't we?" He looked at her solemnly. Their eyes met and locked; she was looking at him intently, with an expression he couldn't interpret. Seconds passed.

"Road!" he yelled suddenly, pointing through the windshield.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, swerving away from the shoulder and back onto the road. "Thanks!" She grinned sheepishly at him.

They were silent for while, each lost in their own thoughts, while the darkness deepened around them and took hold.

I wonder what she's thinking, David pondered. It's all so strange... But at the same time it seems, well... right, somehow. I've known Nick for close to seven years now. We've been best friends for nearly that long. I've never even imagined that this side of him existed. And yet, here it's been scarcely twelve hours, and already it's hard to think of him as anything but a woman. I began thinking of him as "her" almost immediately... It's strange, but it's a good kind of strange. She's a close friend, and yet she's a stranger. Familiar, yet different. I think I'm looking forward to getting to know her all over again. And wow! Being a woman sure suits her! Remember when she walked into the living room back at her apartment? It seems like it was ages ago, but it was really just this morning. Man, she looked gorgeous! That face, those legs, that body... He stole a glance at her as she drove, her slim form almost lost in the darkness. She was gazing steadily through the windshield, intent on the road ahead. Even now, he thought, look at her, her hair in pulled back into a ponytail, her silver earrings glinting softly in the dim light from the dash... the graceful arc of her throat, the curve of her...

He shook himself abruptly. Jesus! Quickly, he forced his thoughts in another direction.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Famished!" she smiled at him, "Can you crawl back and find us something? I don't feel too comfortable pulling over here. It's is a pretty isolated area."

He pulled a flashlight from the glove box and squirmed his way over the seat, then fumbled with a couple of boxes until he found some packets of dried fruit and trail mix, and a bottle of water.

"These do?" he asked, holding them up, "We'll have to share the water for now. I could only find the one bottle."

"That'll be perfect!" she said, "Thanks so much, David. I was really hungry but I didn't even notice. I guess my mind was wrapped up on other things," and she gave him an affectionate smile.

Her smile affected him nearly as much as his earlier ruminations had done, and he looked hastily away through the windshield, as if studying the road ahead.

They drove in companionable silence for a while, munching away on nuts and fruit, and passing the water bottle between them. Then presently David yawned.

"We're going to have to stop soon for a rest, you know. I'm exhausted, and I bet you are too. I think we should find a sheltered spot, out of view, and sack out for a few hours."

"I think you're right," she replied, yawning too, "I'm pooped. Start looking around for a spot, okay?"

They pulled off onto the ramp of a rest stop, parked and got out, swinging their flashlights around the area.

"How about if we pull up that track a ways?" she suggested, aiming her flashlight at a narrow, grassy lane among the trees, "That ought to be pretty secluded."

David agreed; Nikki hopped back in and drove up the track as far as the truck would comfortably go, while David watched and guided. They were out of sight of the rest area parking lot.

They walked around for a few minutes, stretching their legs, then took turns relieving themselves in the bushes. They drank more water and brushed their teeth without toothpaste—neither had thought to get some—then they climbed back into the truck and eyed the mountain of gear in the back doubtfully.

"Shit. There's really nowhere to lie down, is there?" Nikki commented.

"Outside?" suggested David.

"I don't know," she replied doubtfully, "I really think I'd feel more comfortable if we were inside the truck with the doors locked."

"Okay."

David pulled two hardware store sleeping bags from the back and passed one to her, then they pushed the seat backs down as far as they would go. With their sleeping bags over them like blankets, they squirmed for a while, trying to find a comfortable position. It wasn't easy.

They lay in silence for some minutes. The darkness was nearly total.

"David?"

"Hmmm?"

There was silence for a few moments.

"So... I was wondering... how are you doing with all this? I mean, me suddenly becoming a... well, a woman, you know?"

David thought for a minute, wondering how to put his feelings into words.

"Honestly, Nikki," he answered, "I think I'm doing great with it. In fact, it's kind of cool in a way. I mean, you're my friend, right? And we've known each other for ages. We've spent so much time together... And yet, at the same time, it's kind of like I'm meeting somebody for the first time, somebody that I want to get to know better... Does this make any sense?"

"Totally."

"And it's amazing how easy it's been to get used to it. Already it's hard to think of you as anything other than a woman. You're so... well, feminine. It totally suits you."

Nikki digested this. "Thanks David," she said presently, "You have no idea how much appreciate your honesty, your support, and your acceptance. And your friendship.

"You know," she went on, "I've really wanted to 'come out' for a long time now, especially to you. It's been painful to keep it inside me. You're my best friend, and I felt terrible living with this secret all alone. I so much wanted to share it with you... But I was so scared! I was terrified at the thought of doing anything that might damage our friendship. Then, when everything... you know, changed ... with our discovery and all, I just thought, what the hell? What have I got to lose? But now, well... now I am totally kicking myself for not doing it a lot sooner. Maybe if I had, you and I..." she trailed off.

"You and I what?" David asked.

"Nothing," she replied, and pulled her sleeping bag tighter. "We should probably get some sleep."

They lay in silence for a few minutes, then, "David?" she said again.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. I mean it. You're a really wonderful person, and you mean so much to me." She reached out, and touched his cheek gently.

Soon, David heard her breathing become regular. But he lay awake for a long time, thinking.

 

 

David awoke, feeling chilled to the bone; his sleeping bag had slipped off during the night. The sun had risen, but a thin early morning mist still clung to the nearby trees and bushes. He felt a pressure against his side and chest, and opened his eyes to see what it was. Nikki's sleeping bag had slipped down as well, and she had moved over next to him, her side pressing up against his, one arm resting across his torso. David thought she must be rather uncomfortable, pressed as she was hard up against the gearshift, and undoubtedly lying right on top of the parking brake lever.

He lay motionless for a while. His bladder felt like it might burst, and presently he knew he had to move. Trying not to disturb her, he squirmed around until he could reach the door handle, then pulled on it. Nikki woke at the sound and looked up at him, a sleepy smile on her face. She looked around and saw where she was lying, half in his seat, still pressed against him. She smiled sheepishly, but didn't say anything. He smiled back and climbed out, tucking her arm gently against her body.

He wandered a short distance from the truck and took a long, luxurious piss. When he returned, Nikki was huddled once again in the driver's seat, wrapped in her sleeping bag and shivering.

"God, it's cold," she said, trembling.

"Let's turn on the heat, then I'll track down some breakfast," David suggested.

"Good idea."

She started the truck, and then opened her door and stepped out, walking off into the bushes. By the time she returned, David had retrieved some beef jerky, cheese, fruit and a large bottle of juice, and was ripping into the packages. The heater was beginning to pour forth warm air.

They ate with gusto, tearing off chunks of jerky and cheese, munching fruit and passing the juice bottle back and forth.

Nikki looked hesitantly at him. "Er... sorry about... crowding you last night," she began, "I guess I got cold and just snuggled up against the nearest warm thing."

"That's okay," he replied, "I was pretty cold too. It was nice to have some additional warmth."

She smiled, "Yeah, it was. Nice, that is."

She rummaged about in the back for a while and pulled out a pair of jeans and a fleece top. She removed her shorts and pulled on the jeans, while David examined the dashboard intently, then she pulled the fleece on over her tank top. She traded her large hoop earrings for smaller ones, then brushed her hair; finally, she poked around in her purse and took out some lipstick, mascara and other sundries. Using the rear-view mirror, she applied her makeup, while David watched, an amused but warm smile on his face.

"A girl's gotta look pretty," she said, blushing slightly.

"You don't need much help!" he declared, grinning, "Hey, want me to drive for a while? You could probably use a break."

"Sure," she responded immediately, "That'd be great."

They traded places; David adjusted the seat and mirrors, and drove down the ramp to the freeway. They headed north once more, and presently they passed the spot where their brush with the other SUV occurred. There was no sign of it.

"Where to now, do you think?" asked David.

"We could just go back to the observatory," said Nikki.

"And do what?" he said, "I mean really. There's nothing to do there except... except wait..."

He paused, then, "We could just keep going up to LA..."

"After San Diego?" she responded, "Are you crazy? No way."

"No, no! I think it might be okay, honest. I still really want to find out what's happening in the rest of the world. There's a bit of a mystery here that needs solving. I think maybe La-La Land might be the ideal place to do it."

They argued back and forth for a time. Nikki clearly wanted to stay out of harm's way, but David, now that the idea had taken root, was insistent.

"Look," he said, trying for a reasonable tone, "We know what to expect now. All we have to do is be careful. We can plan our escape route, keep out of peoples' way, do some reconnaissance, first. If we don't like what we see, we just beat feet. Get the hell outta Dodge. Hit the road. Make like a tree and leave."

In spite of herself, Nikki smiled wryly, "Well... Okay... But I'll tell you something, amigo, you'd better protect me from all those creeps and weirdoes! After all, I'm just little!" They laughed together.

"Damn right I will!" he said gallantly.

The sun blazed forth over the hills to the east, and the day heated up rapidly. Nikki removed her fleece top and changed back into shorts. David switched on the air conditioning.

The parched southern California landscape slipped by; the odometer clicked the miles. They took Route 76 west to the San Diego freeway, then headed north again toward Long Beach, driving fast.

They passed John Wayne Airport and took I-405 toward the center of town. Signs for Disneyland flashed by. The other traffic, while scant, was by no means absent. Cars and trucks passed in both directions, but no one seemed to take any notice of them.

"God," reflected David, "I never thought I'd see the freeways in LA like this...so empty..." Somehow, that sight affected him more strongly that many of the other strange things he'd seen in the past few days.

Past Fountain Valley, past Westminster, and on toward Inglewood and LAX; the road slid smoothly by under their wheels. The traffic thickened, but everyone seemed to be going about their own business. There were a few reckless drivers, but not many. At one point, they passed a section of guardrail that had been punched out by some high-speed impact; below it lay the still-smoldering wreckage of an expensive-looking sports car.

"Where are we headed?" asked Nikki, breaking the silence, "Downtown? Beverly Hills? Hey, how about Hollywood?" she struck a Rita Heyworth pose, "Maybe I could make it as a star..."

"I don't know yet. I guess I was figuring on looking for some sort of activity, and then checking it out... discreetly!" he added, as she gave him a stern gaze, "How about Echo Park, maybe?"

"Why there?"

"I don't know, exactly. Maybe it's my own intuition kicking in," he grinned.

"Then we should've taken 110," she said, looking over her shoulder, "Never mind. Go east on Santa Monica..."

They drove east, then north on route 101. Presently, the park came into view to their right.

"My God!" she said, breathless, "I guess your intuition was right!"

The park was jammed with people, and so was much of the lake. Even as they sped by, they could tell that the party in progress there dwarfed the one in downtown San Diego. They left the freeway and drove through a network of nearby streets, but they were filled with people also, so they headed farther afield, and eventually found themselves in a district of large, well-appointed homes.

At the end of one street was a small park, with playground equipment and lush, landscaped gardens. David switched into 4-wheel drive and pulled up over the curb and up a short incline. They found themselves in a thickly planted area, and pulled up behind a large bougainvillea. They got out and surveyed the vicinity, deciding that the truck was nearly invisible from pretty well any vantage point, and completely hidden from the road. As before, David equipped them both with handguns concealed in their fanny packs, and bottles of water. They began to walk toward the park.

It turned out to be farther away than they thought, and beneath the hot sun they tired quickly. At one point, they passed a mansion that, alone among its neighbors, had burned, its roof collapsed, its windows blackened and staring. They stared at it somberly as they walked by, wondering what had happened. Presently, the crowds around them thickened, and the sounds of revelry floated to their ears on the breeze.

"That way, I think," said Nikki, pointing.

They walked on. Soon, the edge of the park came into view, and water sparkled in the distance. As they drew nearer, the sounds of music and celebration grew louder and louder, and presently they had a panoramic view of the park. It took their breath away. Perhaps as many as a two hundred thousand people packed the area. It looked almost like a giant, multicolored flowerbed, the blossoms swaying back and forth in the breeze. The lake, too, was full of people, wading, swimming, splashing, and floating on air mattresses or surfboards. Unsettlingly, a few appeared to be floating motionless.

As they walked through the periphery of the throng, Nikki was quick to point out that here, as in San Diego, cross-dressers, drag queens, transvestites and other manifestations of ambiguous sexuality were extremely well represented. Almost everyone was in a costume of some sort. A young male brushed by them, dressed in a bikini and high heels, a monstrous blue wig atop his head and wearing brilliant pink lipstick and inch-long false eyelashes. His pink lacquered nails were over two inches long; he was wearing a slightly manic grin on his face, waving frantically and calling out, "Ginger! Ginger! It's okay! I'll do it! Don't leave!"

A large crowd of cross-dressers wearing Miss America bathing suits, sashes and high heeled pumps whirled by them. They were all wearing gigantic Afro wigs in every color of the rainbow and were dancing a kind of frenzied jig as they passed; most of them were drinking out of much-depleted liquor bottles. Nearby, a small stage was set up, on which a trio of drag queens in sequined gowns was lip-synching to a stream of disco hits, which came screeching over the sound system, briefly drowning out the louder music that came from further down the lakeshore.

"My God," murmured David, "It's like Wigstock The Movie!"

"Jeez David," said Nikki incredulously, "can it be possible that, like, forty or fifty percent of the male population are actually closet cross-dressers?"

"No idea," David replied, "But at this point I'd be ready to believe just about anything..."

He tried to stay next to Nikki, but it wasn't easy. One minute they'd be together, their shoulders almost touching, and seconds later they'd be yards apart, separated by some seething mass of people, and they'd have to yell to one another so as not to lose contact completely.

In the lake to their left, several dozen naked women were swimming and splashing in the water, screaming and laughing. These at least were unambiguously real, genetic females, but in other cases it was so often difficult, even impossible, to tell. A bevy of gorgeous women in scanty bathing suits, all pretty enough to be models, briefly surrounded David, and he smiled uncertainly at them, wondering what gender category, if any, they fell into. Then he thought, hell, what does it matter? Who cares? It's not like it's important or anything. He grinned at them and they grinned back, sliding their hands over his body and through his hair. After they'd disappeared into the crowd he looked around for Nikki, and found her a few feet away, gazing at him. Was it his overwrought imagination, or did she just shoot him a 'look'?

They stayed resolutely close together as they penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of the party. Talking was nearly impossible over the noise, but hand gestures usually sufficed. As at San Diego, here they stumbled across many orgiastic scenes, throngs of participants naked or nearly naked, or dressed in every kind of erotic clothing imaginable, limbs entangled, writhed together in a kind of hysteric ecstasy. David thought that some of them resembled nothing so much as enormous nests of snakes.

Suddenly, Diana Ross and the Supremes leapt out in front of them, all sequins and bouffant hairdos. "Stop! In the name of love!" they sang, complete with swiveling hips and hand gestures. David glanced at Nikki, who was grinning in a bemused way, then went up to the nearest Supreme and put his arm around her rather broad shoulders, "You know what, darlin'?" he said directly into her face, "This ain't Earth. It's Bizarro World!" She fluttered her false eyelashes at him and laughed a deep, masculine laugh, showing large, slightly protuberant teeth.

It was all a little overwhelming; perhaps you need to be on the right kind of drug for this, thought David. Nikki was starting to look a little frantic, so he took her arm and began making for a region of the park that didn't look so densely populated.

They walked up a wide, cobbled path that opened up into a kind of circular atrium. In the center, on a very royal looking throne that could only have been stolen from a prop warehouse, sat a large, overweight, middle-aged man, wearing a seventies disco outfit of "Saturday Night Fever" vintage. His satin shirt was open to the waist beneath a spangled polyester jacket, displaying an array of gold chains and revealing a hairy, prolapsed belly that hung so far down over the top of his matching polyester pants it almost obscured his crotch. His platform shoes twinkled with cycling LEDs, mirror shades hid his eyes; his greasy black hair was slicked into a near-pompadour, his hands glittered with gold rings. As if that wasn't enough, this shining monument to excess of every kind was surrounded by about a dozen women, all scantily clad in bikinis or lingerie, all of whom looked like they just walked off the pages of Playboy... and perhaps they had. They caressed and massaged him, kissed him, popped food into his mouth, and stroked his flaccid member as it dangled limply between his legs through his open fly. He gazed about him with a smug, self-satisfied smirk on his face, as if to say, Look at me! Look at me, and be jealous!

They approached, got a better look at the disco apparition, and then abruptly Nikki veered off the path, her hands to her face, and bending forward as if she was about to vomit.

"Ahhh God!" she cried, "Ooooh shit... Oh, gross! That's all I needed to see right now."

But Professor Klassen—for that's who it was—hadn't seen them, or if he had, hadn't recognized them. Or, if he had, he didn't care. He merely lounged farther back in his throne and gazed haughtily up at his bevy of women.

David followed Nikki and took her arm, guiding her farther up the path and away from the grotesque specter.

"That," said Nikki, pointing back, "was the single most disgusting thing I could ever hope to see in my entire life."

David grinned wryly and agreed.

A little farther on, a huge pixel-board came into view. It was evident that someone—likely more than one person, in fact—was strolling the park with a video camera, because live scenes of the party around them were appearing on the giant screen. The camera roved though packed revelers dancing in a frenzy of excess, capturing images of naked limbs, torsos and private parts, all of which blazed over their heads twenty feet high. At one point, an extreme close-up of joined male and female genitals appeared, reminding

David of films he'd seen in school of early steam locomotives. As they drew closer to the base of the giant television, they saw that here, as in San Diego, several dozen large flat-screen TVs had been set up. Some were showing movies or live crowd scenes, others were displaying on-air images from local network affiliates. The well-known news anchors for NBC and CBS were on some of the screens, sitting at their news desks and speaking, although the sound was turned off. Both were wearing dresses, makeup, wigs, jewelry.

"Of course, I'm getting used to this by now," David commented, pointing to the images. They walked down one of the rows of screens until they came to one showing a CNN broadcast. A female news anchor (was she really female? wondered David, I have no idea any more) was talking silently, while below and to the sides, tickers flowed across the screen, numbers changed, and text boxes scrolled. Across the bottom of the screen ran the words, "No contact with Great Britain. Officials fear widespread destruction. Santiago Chile reported burned to the ground. No death toll as yet. Parties rave on in many US cities, less violence than expected, but looting and property damage continue. Many people still attend work. Claim sense of duty. San Diego: several city blocks in downtown leveled by massive explosion yesterday. Thousands feared dead..."

The news of the world continued to scroll before them. Then, "...NovaNet reports stellar explosion may not take place for months, but hedges on more precise date."

"'NovaNet?'" said Nikki, turning to David, "What the hell's NovaNet?"

"Damned if I know," he replied, "But it might be worth finding out."

They got at least part of the answer a few minutes later. One of the scrolling text boxes on the screen displayed, "NovaNet described as 'very successful.' Dr Aaron Sandoval of CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) describes NovaNet as, 'A worldwide network of universities, observatories and research institutes formed to provide a reliable, high-speed medium of information exchange and storage, as we document and preserve for 'posterity' the closing chapters of life on Earth. It is a cross-discipline resource for the sharing and archiving of scientific, sociological, political and environmental information from all over the globe. Of particular interest to many scientists is the collection, sharing and interpretation of data relating to Alpha Orionis itself.' Sandoval went on to say that NovaNet has already cataloged and archived over ten terabytes (ten trillion bytes) of information."

They looked at each other.

"We should check this out," said David, "I wonder if it's publicly available."

"Maybe we should head back to Palomar. I think I'd like to be a part of that," Nikki replied.

David agreed, and they began to make their way back the way they came, but the shadows had lengthened, crowds had shifted, and it was difficult to maintain their bearings. Twice they found themselves almost wandering into the lake.

Then, a few minutes later, they got separated. It wasn't dramatic, with one of them being swept away by the crowd or carried off by some nefarious character while the other watched helplessly. It was simply that one second Nikki was just a foot or so to David's left, and the next, she wasn't. He looked around, standing on tiptoe to get a better view, but she was nowhere in sight. He jumped up and down several times, staring in different directions. Nothing. Fighting down a rising sense of panic, he began calling her name loudly, but it would have been scarcely audible, he realized, more than a few yards away.

"Nikki! Nikki!" he called, "Nikkiiiii! Nick! Nikki! Nick!" There was no answer.

At a loss for some coherent plan to locate her again, he tried walking in a circle, hoping to spiral outwards in a kind of crude search pattern. It was hopeless. In seconds he had no idea where he was, and had no clue how far away he was from the spot where he'd last seen her. Crowds swirled around him, carrying him along like a twig in a strong current. He continued to call, but his voice was lost in the uproar. He found himself once again nearly in the water, and reversed course. Somehow, while trying to make his way back the way they'd come in, he discovered that he was nearly at the opposite end of the park. The crowds were thinner here, and he could move more easily.

A young, lingerie-clad creature with waist-length flowing blonde hair jumped in front of him and kissed him. Brusquely, he stepped around her, and heard her annoyed cry. More sex was going on around him. A leather-clad couple was copulating standing up, just a few inches to his left. Before him, two naked women writhed together almost under his feet, ministering to each other in the position sometimes referred to as "soixante-neuf".

David circled the park completely, yelling her name periodically, but each unanswered call triggered a fresh spasm of fear and anguish that pierced his heart. It took him nearly two hours. Finally, he made his way slowly back to the end of the park where they had arrived. The sun was sinking lower toward the horizon, and he knew there were only a few hours of daylight left. God only knows, he thought apprehensively, what's going to happen around here after dark.

His plan was to spend another hour or so looking for her, but his hopes of finding her amid the pandemonium were fading fast. Failing that, he would return to the truck, hoping that she has done the same, that being the only reasonable meeting place they both knew about. He dared not think beyond that to the possibility that she might not be there.

But he'd already half-convinced himself that she was no longer in the park, so he left the park proper and made his way up a broad path that led to the street.

As he thought of her, he felt another sharp stab of anxiety pierce his guts, and a rising sense of panic threatened to take hold. Where the hell is she? he wondered, frantic. He walked quickly up the path to the street, then broke into a run.

To be continued...

  

  

  

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