Under the Dome

Barbie looked briefly at the generator, grimaced at the smell, then moved to the tank. 'It isn't as big as I would've expected,' he said… although it was a hell of a lot bigger than the canisters they used at Sweetbriar, or the one he had changed out for Brenda Perkins.

'It's called "municipal size,"' Rusty said. 'I remember that from the town meeting last year. Sanders and Rennie made a big deal of how the smaller tanks were going to save us big bucks during "these times of costly energy." Each one holds eight hundred gallons.'

'Which means a weight of… what? Sixty-four hundred pounds?'

Rusty nodded. 'Plus the weight of the tank. It's a lot to lift— you'd need a forklift or a hydraulic Power Step—but not to move. A Ram pickup is rated for sixty-eight hundred pounds, and it could probably carry more. One of these midsize tanks would fit in the bed, too. Sticking out the end a little bit, is all.' Rusty shrugged.'Hang a red flag from it and you're good to go.'

'This is the only one here,' Barbie said. 'When it's gone, the Town Hall lights go out.'

'Unless Rennie and Sanders know where there are more,' Rusty agreed. 'And I'm betting they do.'

Barbie ran a hand over the blue stenciling on the tank: CR HOSP. 'This is what you lost.'

'We didn't lose it; it was stolen. That's what I'm thinking. Only there should be five more of our tanks in here, because we're missing a total of six.'

Barbie surveyed the long shed. Despite the stored plows and cartons of reserve parts, the place looked empty. Especially around the generator. 'Never mind whatever got kited from the hospital; wheres the rest of the town's tanks?'

'I don't know.'

'And what could they be using them for?'

'I don't know,' Rusty said, 'but I mean to find out.'

PINK STARS FALLING

1

Barbie and Rusty stepped outside and breathed deeply of the open air. It had a smoky tang from the recently extinguished fire west of town, but seemed very fresh after the exhaust fumes in the shed. A lackadaisical little breeze cat s-pawed their cheeks. Barbie was carrying the Geiger counter in a brown shopping bag he'd found in the fallout shelter.

'This shit will not stand,' Rusty said. His face was set and grim.

'What are you going to do about it?' Barbie asked.

'Now? Nothing. I'm going back to the hospital and do rounds. Tonight, though, I intend to knock on Jim Rennie's door and ask for a goddam explanation. He better have one, and he better have the rest of our propane as well, because we're going to be dead out at the hospital by the day after tomorrow, even with every nonessential shut down.'

'This might be over by the day after tomorrow.'

'Do you believe it will be?'

Instead of answering the question, Barbie said,'Selectman Rennie could be a dangerous man to press right about now.'

'Just now? That tags you for a town newbie like nothing else could. I've been hearing that about Big Jim for the ten thousand or so years he's been running this town. He either tells people to get lost or pleads patience. "For the good of the town," he says. That's number one on his hit parade. Town meeting in March is a joke. An article to authorize a new sewer system? Sorry, the town can't afford the taxes. An article to authorize more commercial zoning? Great idea, the town needs the revenue, let's build a Walmart out on 117. The University of Maine Small Town Environmental Study says there's too much graywater in Chester Pond? The selectmen recommend tabling discussion because everybody knows all those scientific studies are run by radical humanist bleeding-heart atheists. But the hospital is for the good of the town, wouldn't you say?'

'Yes. I would.' Barbie was a little bemused by this outburst.

Rusty stared at the ground with his hands in his back pockets. Then he looked up. 'I understand the President tapped you to take over. I think it's high time you did so.'

'It's an idea.' Barbie smiled. 'Except… Rennie and Sanders have got their police force; where's mine?'

Before Rusty could reply, his cell phone rang. He flipped it open and looked at the little window. 'Linda's What?'

He listened.

'All right, I understand. If you're sure they're both okay now. And you're sure it was Judy? Not Janelle?' He listened some more, then said: 'I think this is actually good news. I saw two other kids this morning—both with transient seizures that passed off quickly, long before I saw them, and both fine afterward. Had calls on three more. Ginny T. took another one. It could be a side effect of whatever force is powering the Dome.'

He listened.

'Because I didn't have a chance to,' he said. His tone patient, non-confrontational. Barbie could imagine the question which had prompted that: Kids have been having seizures all day and now you tell me?