Free Higher Ground by Becky Black Page A

Johnson would spare him more than a few minutes. Should he wait? No. If she would listen, then the sooner she started listening, the better. He turned away from the secretary’s desk and headed toward the comfortable-looking armchairs provided for visitors. Apparently pleased with his cooperation, the secretary spoke in a warmer tone.
    “Would you like some coffee—hey, stop!”
    Zach dodged past her and grabbed the handle of the door into Johnson’s office. If it had been locked, he’d have crashed into it nose first, but it opened, and he burst into the room. Johnson sat behind a desk, a man and woman sitting on the other side of it. All of them stared at Zach as he stumbled over an unexpected rug. He heard the secretary scurry in behind him.
    “Ms. Johnson, I must speak to you. The colony is in terrible danger. You must issue a distress call and start an evacuation immediately.”
    “I’ll call security.” The secretary ran back out.
    Johnson rose from her desk. “First, please tell me who you are. Then tell me what you’re talking about.”
    Damn, he hadn’t identified himself. “Dr. Zach Benesh, ma’am, Physical Sciences Department. I’ve got some very disturbing results from scans of the geology of the island.”
    “Dr. Benesh, this is rather irregular. Surely Dr. Morrison—”
    “I know, I’m sorry. They’re examining the data, but you need to know about this immediately.” He heard sounds, heavy footsteps, and knew the security men were behind him. Johnson remained as calm as if he’d brought her news of a problem with the colony’s supply of marshmallows. As a politician, she must be used to dealing with unreasonably excited people. But she needed to listen to him. She needed to understand the urgency of the situation.
    “Ms. Johnson, this island is about to sink into the ocean.”
    “He’s crazy,” one of the other people sitting by her desk said.
    “What are you talking about?” demanded the other. “Are you trying to spread panic?”
    Zach groaned. Dammit, why wouldn’t people listen? Panic? Maybe they did need a little panic here. It would be too late to panic about it when the water was up to their knees and rising. He sprang forward and shoved his Link into Johnson’s hands. This proved to be a mistake, as the security men at once grabbed his arms. He struggled against them to no effect.
    “You have to listen to me! If we don’t leave right away, every man, woman, and child of the colony will die!”
    “Throw him out,” one of the other people at the desk said. “You’d better call Morrison and see if he knows anything about this lunatic.”
    “Yes…” Johnson said, looking at the Link in her hand. Look at it, Zach thought. Just look at it. But she wouldn’t understand the data; it was too specialized. She was thinking about it, he knew; she had to keep an open mind, in case he was right. But, like Morrison, she had few reasons to listen to Zach. She didn’t know him. She’d want to think about it and take advice and decide if she was ready to risk taking a chance on the word of a young, unproven, and junior scientist. She wouldn’t make a decision affecting so many people—so many voters—lightly, if it could come back and bite her in the next election. She’d consult and spread the responsibility around. But that would all take too long.
    Johnson passed the Link back to Zach.
    “I will speak to Dr. Morrison. Good-bye, Dr. Benesh.”
    She nodded at the security men, and they hustled Zach from the office. A moment later, they manhandled him through the main entrance to the colony’s central admin building and pushed him back out onto the street. He stood panting, thinking. He needed to calm down and find someone who could understand this and who wouldn’t reject the idea on principle. He knew only one person who fit that description.
    His bike lay on the ground where he’d left it. He lifted it up and started the motor, but it only gave a brief whir and then