Page 59 of The Explorer
“Fine, but I’ll come for protection,” I exclaimed, not liking the idea of Pearl meeting with the prime minister alone.
“Thank you, but you already have Aubri to protect.”
“We’re both coming,” Aubri declared, but Pearl just smiled.
“I’m here to deescalate things and nothing does that better than showing up with no weapons.”
“We could leave our weapons here,” I offered.
Pearl reached out to touch both our shoulders. “Thank you, Laura already offered her assistance as well, but Monsieur Moreau knows enough about Northlanders to know that youareweapons.”
“Trust me, I wanted to come, but Pearl is convinced that I’ll lose my shit with that fucker. For him to take my daughter and provoke my husband – urgh, I could just…Ooph. ” Laura finished her sentence by pressing her lips together and blowing up her cheeks, as if she was holding back a description of all the vile things that she wanted to do the prime minister.
I would have felt better if Pearl had let one of us come with her, but with her being a figure of authority to me, I didn’t press the subject further. Instead I offered, “At least let us walk you there.”
“I’d appreciate that since I would surely get lost if I tried to find him myself. Victor said that he would contact Monsieur Moreau and let us know when he’s ready to meet with me.”
“Yes, and in the meanwhile, we would love for you two to show us this fascinating country,” my mother said. “I’m told that the original survival bunkers have been turned into a museum.”
“One of them is used for an underground fight club. Indiana and I have made money there already.”
“You’ve fought for money?” The concern on my mother’s face made Aubri and me laugh.
“It’s a walkover. They have no real fight training here. In that area, they are as hopeless as the Motlanders. They don’t even teach their kids basic self-defense.”
Laura, who was a skilled fighter herself, didn’t show concern. “Who did you fight? Was it fun?”
Aubri and I put on jackets and shoes while telling about the Gorilla and the other people we had fought against.
As we walked with our mothers and Pearl through the streets, they pointed out all the things that had once seemed strange to Aubri and me too. It made me reflect on how we’d become used to the colorful outfits and the lights on the buildings. By now we even understood how to read the street signs and navigate the different levels.
There were no tourists in France. They had limited space and the government was afraid of outside influence. Many were curious when they heard us speak English, but few approached us.
We stopped and looked at displays of fashion that made our moms gape.
“But it’s see-through,” my mom said in response to the bright yellow dress that hung in the window.
“Do you want to buy one? It’s high fashion here,” Aubri teased her.
“Promise me that you’ll never strut around in see-through clothing like that,” Laura said with a shake of her head.
“Why not? I’m so good atstruttingaround.” The love between Laura and Aubri shone from the two women as they laughed together, linked arms, and walked on.
My mother placed her hand under my elbow and smiled up at me. “We miss you, Indy. But I’m also jealous that you get to experience a new culture. It’s very different here. When I arrived in the Northlands, at least I could understand and speak the language. Are you picking up on French?
“A little, but the younger generation have all learned English in school, so we get by fine.”
We spent an hour in the survival bunker turned into a museum. Pictures of the original two hundred and seventy-two survivors hung on the walls along with passages from their diaries describing the fear and panic when they understood that the world had gone under.
As an archeologist and historian, my mother soaked it up and took pictures of everything.
“What do you think?” I asked her.
“It’s amazing. I feel their anxiety and pain. I could stay in here for a month and just dig deep into the history of this place. I want to understand how they produced food and how the dynamics were in terms of hierarchy. Did they name a leader, or did someone take that role? I assume food was rationed.” Her gaze was darting around the room as if she could find all the answers she wanted in no time.
“Check this out,” Laura called to us.
We joined the others and looked inside a large container with slim vertical panels running from one end to the other.
