When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

46. Man of the people

Six o'clock in the morning, Clint woke up while Marie was still asleep. Zack didn't come out of his room last night. And no one touched the ice cream either. Clint wanted to stay. Be a father to his son. Be a husband to his wife. Be at home with his family and try to sort out last night's drama. But Eli Hodges was coming to their square in a few hours. So he only had the chance to be a doctor today.

He didn't disturb Marie in her slumber. He pulled the sheets higher on her shoulder and quietly climbed out of his bed. Brushed his teeth and stepped into the shower, dressed up in a crisp blue shirt and black trousers. Made himself some toast and eggs and the strongest black coffee he could make. He finally felt awake as he gazed down at the empty streets below. Banners and party flags were put up on each curve and corner of the road. There were a lot more steel heads patrolling the streets.

The caffeine didn't allow Clint to feel nervous. If anything, it just added to his excitement for the mission. He walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the pelican case from within.

He slipped the pelican case in his leather holdall, draped his apron over his arm and left a note on the dining table for his wife and son. It read: Marie, Zack, let's hope we get some time to actually talk about what happened. Maybe we can even go to a movie. I love you.

#

Half-past seven, Clint walked into a fairly empty hospital. There was hardly anyone except the receptionist lady, a few nurses, some physicians and the trauma surgeon in the emergency care.

"Not going for the rally, Dr. Chambers?" the receptionist asked.

Clint gave a curt smile. "Nope, not a big fan of politics." He shrugged.

The receptionist looked unamused. "Try not to say that in front of the steel heads. It's enough to make them arrest you."

Clint just nodded with the same curt smile. "Will remember that, thank you."

The woman was still unamused. Clint made his way to the doctor's common room, put his holdall in the locker with his name, and signed the muster. He was working regular hours today.

He put on his apron and went for his rounds, examining the recovering patients who had been admitted. He was done in about an hour and returned to the common room for a cup of coffee.

He grabbed the morning newspaper and it was exactly what he'd expected. The announcement of Eli Hodges' rally. The old man's proud eyes blazing in his wrinkled face, casting a piercing gaze at the readers, ready to change their opinions on everything they believed in. It was the face of a man who could sell a lie to an eternal truthseeker. The perfect man for the job he was given by the party. The face of the Seat of Authority. People may not trust the First Leader. But Eli Hodges was the man they could. A man of the people who said what they wanted to hear and said it real good.

And this man would be on an operating table in front of him today. Clint thought of the pelican case. He thought of the loaded syringe that lay snug in its styrofoam casing, thought of the blue liquid swirling in its well. He remembered his last meeting at Moon's Edge.

"What is this?" he'd asked the girl who was his bartender that day.

She'd grinned as she slid the pelican case towards him, letting him examine the syringe. "Watcher calls it the 'promise me' cocktail," she said, "It's a benzodiazepine mixed with another chemical that affects the nervous tissue."

"Is it the EpiFreeze?" he asked.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "So you know about the EpiFreeze?"

He nodded. He remembered that night when he first saw Erik, when they administered it on Cathy. "Why EpiFreeze though?"