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  “What are we doing?” asked U2258.

  “Again, we are going backwards,” said Samuel. “One thing people are not good at doing.”

  They hit the bottom floor again and Samuel and U2258 rushed out onto the street. And there, just around the corner were six empty cycles.

  This was what Samuel knew best. He pulled out some wires for the first cycle, yanking them out with a jerk. Then he did the same for the other three. “Can you ride one of these?” he asked.

  “I’ve never tried,” said U2258.

  “Well, neither have I, but I’m willing.”

  They turned on the cycles at a press of a button and they were off. For just a second both of them were a little unsteady as they got used to the cycles, but as they sped up they became easier to control. They rode side by side. “You know,” yelled U2258, “they will call in for more backup.”

  “No, they won’t,” said Samuel. “I disabled their power. They aren’t going anywhere or calling anyone.”

  U2258 yelled back after a pause, “You would have made a very efficient criminal.”

  “From now on, we are criminals,” yelled back Samuel.

  Chapter 22

  Hirach had lived among the Waldenese for many years thinking little about those from the city except for when he saw something like what he was seeing now. Two cycles, generations more advanced than he had ever seen when he lived in the city himself, came rushing up toward their settlement. Both stopped in front of him while he had been going for his daily walk.

  “Come from the city, have you?” asked Hirach.

  “We would like to join you,” said Samuel.

  “You are welcome to do that,” said Hirach, “But those cycles are traceable, are they not?”

  Samuel got off the cycle, squatted on the left of it, and unscrewed a small cap. Then he pulled off a small blinking device the size of a thimble, threw it on the ground, and crushed it under his foot. Doing the same to the other cycle, he said, “Not anymore.”

  “Then come join us,” he said. “We already have a place you can stay.”

  “Where would that be?” asked Samuel.

  “With me.”

  Hirach proved to be an interesting host. He had grown up in the city, but had moved here with his family when he was still just a boy. “When I was young I remember the chips, such as you wear, were only a science fiction. We used to joke about the many devices we carried and about how someday they might just embed them into our skulls.”

  After some silence U2258 said, “Well, it’s not science fiction anymore. And worse is coming.”

  “Worse?” asked Samuel.

  “Yes, they have just developed chips that can receive information through the airwaves. And on top of that, they are putting in subliminal messages that will brainwash the wearer to their way of thinking.”

  “Then a man’s brain will no longer be his own,” said Hirach. “How sad.”

  “They are choosing their own destruction,” said Samuel. “I do not feel sorry for them.”

  “Oh?” said U2258. “You do not seem like a man who can turn off feelings so easily.” Samuel tried his best to ignore the comment.

  Chapter 23

  After a few days, Hirach came to Samuel and U2258 and said, “I have a better solution for you than to stay with me. I still enjoy my privacy, though you have been most entertaining for the time you have been here. But there is a family I would like you to meet that is set up better for long term guests.” And that was how they were introduced to Poke, short for Pocahontas, and Sydney. The couple took them in with no questions asked. They had no children and they seemed to delight in inviting those new to the Waldenese to live with them for a while.

  Samuel and U2258 lived there for over a month, at the end of which U2258 changed his name to Wallace.

  One day, Samuel was talking to Poke outside by the cooking fire, as an old man slowly ambled up the path. “I don’t know why,” said Samuel, “but I am restless. I don’t sleep well at night and I find myself daydreaming a lot. What is wrong with me?”

  “I am sorry to hear, but I don’t know,” said Poke. “Ah, just the man we need.” The old man walked slowly up to the fire. “How are you, Methuselah?”

  “Doing well,” said the old man. “May I ask who this is?”

  “This is Samuel. He has come from the city to live with us, but he is troubled.”

  “As the Master says to bear one another’s burdens, I would feel privileged to bear yours. What is it that troubles you?”

  “I was just saying to Poke that I cannot sleep at night and I cannot concentrate during the day. I don’t mind working and I have often helped Sydney or others who have employment around here, but still my mind wanders.”

  “Ah,” said Methuselah, “sometimes when the mind wanders it is searching for a place to land. What are your tenets?”

  “Tenets?” asked Samuel.

  “What do you live by?”

  “The only tenet I have had is one that was handed to me, and it goes like this: Be part of the solution, and not part of the problem.”

  “Then I think you have your solution.” Then turning to Poke. “Might I have a sip of tea while this young man works out his puzzle? I find my mouth unusually dry today.”

  ***

  That evening the stars were so bright Samuel seemed to see the curve of the earth above him. They were so bright he could walk by starlight, and so he did. The terrain here was dry with scrub brush here and there, so he could walk in almost any direction without hindrance.

  The only noise was that of crickets and the sound of the slow wind. It was a warm night, a summer’s night.

  Be part of the solution and not part of the problem. How could he do this? He knew what the problem was. The city. Living like that was destructive to everyone there. And if what Wallace had said was true, it was only going to get worse. But how could he be part of the solution? It seemed that the solutions was out here, among these stars and in this silence. The only solution was to leave the city and come to the Waldenese, where life was simpler. Where things made sense. But how could he help them do that?

  Tired from chopping wood earlier in the day and his long walk, Samuel headed back to the house. Wallace was still up when he got back. “Can’t sleep?” Wallace asked as he walked in the door. Candlelight flickered against the walls.

  “No, I’m trying to figure out a puzzle.”

  “A puzzle?” asked Wallace with a sparkle in his eyes. “I love a good puzzle.”

  “Then here it is. How can I become part of the solution rather than part of the problem?”

  “What is the problem?” asked Wallace.

  “That people in the city are trapped. That things will only get worse, but they don’t see it, and they will remain in their snare.”

  Wallace sat in silence for a moment. “But we found a way out.”

  “Yes, but we almost didn’t. Remember? We were almost caught. And you know what happens when you are caught. They send you in for reprogramming.”

  “That is true, we were almost caught.” Another pause. “It sure would have been nice if someone would have helped us get out when we needed it.” The silence after that statement was pregnant with meaning.

  Both men looked at each other, and Wallace smiled. “I figured out the puzzle, didn’t I?”

  “You did.”

  Chapter 24

  That next evening, after everyone had finished their work, Samuel called a meeting of the village. This was not a hard thing to do. He had Sydney, who was well respected, call everyone together. When they had assembled outside Poke and Sydney’s house, he stood in the middle of a large circle of people.

  “I know that I am new to this area and I thank you for your hospitality. I was lucky to even escape the Technophiles, as you call them. But now I want to go back.”

  “Go back to that nightmare?” said a small man in the back.

  “I want to go back to rescue those who, like me, want out bu
t don’t know how.”

  “Like a rescue mission?” said a young man with a high voice.

  “Yes, but an ongoing one. And I am calling for volunteers. It will be hard, but it will be a worthy mission. You see, I have decided that my purpose is to help others get free from what entangles them. But I will need help. Who is with me?

  No one raised a hand. No one spoke up, but there was a good deal of murmuring as they talked with one another.

  “I will leave in the early morning before the sun comes up,” said Samuel. “If anyone wants to join me I will leave from this house.” Having ended with that, the people dispersed.

  Later that night Sydney talked with him after the others had gone to bed. Wallace told him that he was tired and would turn in early.

  “Come with me,” said Sydney, and they both stepped outside. They had a perfect view of the city. The lights were bright and the buildings tall. “Whatever happens, I want you to know that what you are doing is a good thing. If I did not have a wife and my own mission, I would go with you.”

  “I believe you,” said Samuel. “Do you think I will have to do it alone?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a hard thing you ask people to do. To leave comfort and safety is always difficult.”

  “I realize that, but I had no choice.”

  “Oh, but you did have a choice, and you chose wisely.”

  The two men stood silently for a few moments and then Sydney said, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.”

  “What?” asked Samuel.

  “A quote from a very old book,” said Sydney. “You should get a good night’s sleep. You will need it.”

  They both turned in for the night, but Samuel hardly closed his eyes. He wondered what tomorrow would bring.

  Chapter 25

  Early the next morning, Samuel stepped out of his house, as ready for what might await him as he ever would be. It was still dark, but he knew daylight would be coming soon. He heard a shuffle of feet and a red haired man came into view from around the corner of his house.

  “I heard about your plan,” he said. “I’m Chavez. If it’s not too late, may we come?”

  “We?” said Samuel. Slowly, four more men stepped around the corner. On the other side of a red haired man, Wallace grinned at him.

  “We want to be a part of it. We’re already packed and we’ve said our goodbyes. We want to go with you.”

  “You know there will be hard days ahead?” asked Samuel.

  “Yes.”

  “Sleepless nights?”

  “Yes.”

  “And it will be dangerous,” said Samuel.

  “We know all that,” said a big, light-skinned man. “We want to come anyway.”

  “Let’s be off then,” said Samuel.

  “Where do we go?” asked one man, who was shorter than the rest.

  Samuel stared at the city on the horizon, twinkling in the early morning darkness. “Toward the lights.”

  A note from the author

  This is just the beginning of the story about Samuel and his companions. Their adventure has a long way to go, so go ahead and get the next book in the series, The Last Place to Stand and keep the adventure going.

  Happy reading!

  Acknowledgements

  I am grateful to my wife, Christine, who gave me some very helpful suggestions and to my beta readers: Damien Rosario, Chanel Harper, Yvonne Tran, Kyle Carney, Jeremy Ishimaru, Stephanie Fernandez, Andy Cho, Tyanna Le, Chris Esquivel, Elaine Nguyen, Bruk Mehari, Jeffrey Cabalar, Judy Le, and Mark Sagum.

  About the Author

  Aaron K. Redshaw grew up in Scottsburg, Oregon but decided one day to take a hint from the geese. He now lives in Scotts Valley, California where he can work on his tan and admire other people’s surfboards. He enjoys the company of his beautiful wife, his two gifted children, and one dusty beast of a car.