Under The Protection

Under The Protection; The Armor Of Love

Dan Gollub

“I don’t care what career you had before now,” she said, “or the fact you’re middle-aged. You’ll be a houseboy with us, and that’s what we’ll call you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Did her face soften? “What’s your name?”

“Paul.”

“Paul, we humans lost the war, and we lost much of our homeland,” she said. “You’re lucky we have a place for you.”

“Yes, ma’am”

“You’ll do the chores, and don’t slack off. But we’ll feed you and give you a room to sleep. Don’t always expect the same food we get, but what you get will be nutritious.” She grinned, and her teeth were yellow. “We’ll need to keep you strong for the work. The previous houseboy wasn’t adequate. We had to let him go to the forest.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s best if you only speak when you’re spoken to. Oh, if the sun goes nova you can tell us about it. Well, have you eaten supper?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Come and get some food, and then meet the rest of the family.”

He followed her into the kitchen. She scooped some oatmeal and added meat. “There’s some apricots in a bag. Don’t take more than two.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You can eat in the living room if you like.” She grinned again. “Don’t worry about making a mess. You’ll be the one who cleans it up. They’ve got the snake out. I don’t like to watch.”

He went into the living room and sat down. A man and a boy about 12 were standing next to a terrarium. A long brown snake was wrapped around the man’s neck. The boy said to Paul, “It likes the warmth of Pa’s neck.”

“Hello, houseboy,” the man grunted.

The snake looked at Paul and flicked out its tongue several times.

“Usually it doesn’t go into its constrictor mode,” the boy said. “But if it does, you’ll have to help peel it off.”

He ate his meal. The snake didn’t go berserk. They took Paul to his room. It was barely long enough for a bed. It didn’t have a window.

He pulled up the necklace he was wearing and opened the heart-shaped locket which contained Ann’s picture. He whispered to her as if she could hear him, “Help me survive, perhaps in the forest.”

***

At the gate to the forest he opened the locket. Looking at the picture, he said, “You told me once that I would always be under the protection of your love.” He paused for a few seconds, remembering. “Love you.”

The gatekeeper put down his bottle of beer and scanned him with a hand-held instrument. It spoke. “No weapons. You are eligible to enter the forest.”

The gatekeeper grunted, “As if he had a choice.” He turned to Paul. “If you don’t find a refuge the scavengers will get you tonight. You can trust any promises made. That’s all I’m authorized to tell you.”

“How do I find a refuge?”

The gatekeeper didn’t answer.

The path was gravel, about eight or nine feet wide. The vegetation on the sides included shrubs with sharp edges. Occasionally there were meadows.

He was hungry. He had no food. When he’d been taken to the gate he’d been given a canteen. His neck was beginning to perspire from contact with its strap. He walked on. We lost the war.

He came to a meadow. A man was sitting on a bench a few feet from the path. That man got up, raised a hand in greeting, and said, “I promise you will come to no harm from me” Paul stopped. “I’m Jeter,” the man said. He stepped onto the path and faced Paul. His eyes were grey steel. He had long muscular legs and a deep chest. He had freckles on his face which, oddly, were symmetrical.

“Let’s walk together,” Jeter said. They began walking. “You’ll have a challenge ahead.” Jeter’s voice was grave. “I can’t tell you more. Every unconverted human has to face periodic challenges. An advocate of that policy described it as a culling of the herd. You’ll have a realistic chance of making the correct decision when the time comes.”

“I’m glad you’ve survived your own challenges.”

“I’m not a human.”

Somehow Paul wasn’t surprised.

“If you survive that challenge,” Jeter continued, “you’ll come to a crossroads where two paths diverge. Take the one to the left. It will slope upward toward a thick forest. Once you’ve reached the top, Angela has a house nearby. You don’t want to delay getting there before dark. You currently have plenty of time to reach it. She has the power to expel you from her house. If she likes you, do not resist her charms.”

What if she has bad breath? Can I ask her to brush her teeth?” Paul said, “I won’t.”

“She will give you instructions on reaching a human colony. She’ll also tell you how you can become converted to the mutant cause.” Jeter briefly put a hand on Paul’s shoulder, and Paul partly turned his head toward him. He could still see the path. Jeter’s freckles glowed. “It’s in your best interests to be converted. I feel strongly about this. The same reasons that caused you humans to lose the war make us your only option in the long run. Unless—but that remote possibility won’t happen.” His freckles ceased to glow. “You’re on your own, human.” He stepped off the path and disappeared in the foliage.

“Thank you,” Paul called. He heard no reply from the distance. He felt a sense of dread. What was the challenge Jeter had referred to? He walked on, trying to empty his mind of everything except the sensations of walking. He came to a meadow. A woman was sitting in a lawn chair in it. Their eyes met. She laughed. It was a rich, exuberant sound, and his dread disappeared. “Hello,” she called to him.

“Hello,” he said.

She stood up and walked a couple of steps toward him in the ankle-deep grass. “My name is Celeste. Come visit me,” she said. “Spend time with me.” She held out her arms toward him.

He wanted to, but… He tried to speak in an assertive and yet friendly voice, “I’m not supposed to stray from the path.”

“Oh, those silly rules. Would you please look into my eyes? I’d come closer, but if we mutants get too close to your path we begin feeling intense pain, unless it’s been arranged otherwise. I hope you can see my eyes clearly.”

They were a sparkling blue. “I can.”

“I’m so glad. I promise you that I will not try to harm you, and no other mutant will set foot into this meadow—or paw, or hoof, or other such appendage if you seek that reassurance—while you’re here, and the two of us can have some exquisite moments of truth.”

Inexplicably, he felt afraid. He didn’t answer.

“My skin is not poison,” she said, a slight note of petulance in her voice. “Nothing about me would harm you.” She pointed to some flowers amid the grass. “It’s such a lovely day. There’s not a cloud in the sky. The temperature is ideal. Come enjoy this day with me.”

He glanced up. True, there were no clouds. He saw a dim outline of a bird soaring far overhead. “It is indeed the nicest of days,” he said. He still felt fear. “I’m afraid. I’m sorry, but I can’t do as you’ve asked.”

She briefly closed her eyes as if to conceal intense disappointment. “Some mutants do not approve of humans. They do not view you in high regard. They hold your history against you. The human realm is bound by the treaty. You are not allowed to commit those actions which led in the past to the widespread degradation of the environment and the extermination of nonhuman species. That treaty prevails, and it is sufficient. We mutants are a highly diverse group and yet all of us are bound to that treaty as well. Some mutants feel benevolently toward humans.” Her gaze was fixed on him and her eyes and voice seemed sincere.

He took a step toward her, not because he was planning to leave the path but as a means of signifying kinship to her because of what she was saying. He thought he saw a quick flash of gleefulness in her eyes. He stepped back. “I’m sorry, Celeste.”

“Very well, then.” She looked away. “I am going to express my disappointment. She uttered a sound. It was a cross between a caw and, he supposed, a spider’s roar, although he’d never, of course, heard a spider roar. It wasn’t overly loud, and yet once again he felt a stirring of fear. She looked back at him and held out her arms toward him. “Come as near on the path as you can,” she said. “It will be our way of saying goodbye.”

He stepped to its edge. A hurtling shape swooped close to him. The falcon, if that’s what it was, had its talons extended. It shrieked. The sound was as alien as anything he’d ever heard. He stumbled backwards and fell. The gravel in the path cushioned his fall reasonably well. He saw the bird flying up toward its lofty height. It had accomplished its mission.

She laughed again. It was the same rich, exuberant sound as before. This time he didn’t appreciate it. He got to his feet. No sprained ankles. Nothing broken. Nothing to delay my progress. He began walking quickly along the path away from her. He assumed the bird would have attacked him once he was in the meadow, and she had planned that outcome and was hoping for it. He spoke in his mind to Jeter. “So that was the challenge, and I survived it.”

The day continued to be lovely. He sweated lightly from the exertion of walking, but a soft breeze helped cool him. He saw patches of flowers near the path. “Smell me,” they seemed to be communicating. But if I stepped off the path to do that, ten thousand birds of prey would swoop down on me.

He came to the crossroads Jeter had mentioned. He took the left path. The upward slope wasn’t extreme, but it caused him to slow a bit. He glanced at the sun. It was nearer the horizon, but he could see the top of the hill in the distance. No problem, Ann.

He reached the top. He was tired now. Trees were everywhere, and he scanned his surroundings closely. He had perhaps half an hour of sunlight left, and he didn’t want to overlook Angela’s house.

There it was, set back in a clearing. He walked to it and knocked.

The door opened. “Hello,” a woman said, smiling. She had a large eye in the middle of her forehead, and two smaller eyes on either side of it. “Come in.”

She invited him to sit on a couch in the living room. He did so.

She said, “I was told you’d be coming.”

“Thank you for sheltering me for the night.”

“You can thank me in the morning. I have some questions for you, and this middle eye of mine helps me see the truth. Please tell me, are you irreconcilably biased against mutants?”

“No.” He was glad that was true.

She continued, “Are you potentially able to feel love toward me?”

It didn’t take him long to find an answer. “Yes.”

“Does my appearance repulse you?”

“No.” Somehow that didn’t seem sufficient. “Of course not, silly.”

She smiled. “Take a shower. I’ll give you a bathrobe to wear. While you’re in the bathroom, I’ll be preparing a dinner for you. Then we can talk some more.”

In the bathroom he removed his clothes and took off the necklace. He opened the locket. He kissed Ann’s picture. “Love you,” he said to her.