The Flood
Gill sat at a lamp-lit bar called The Ark in Cairo. He ordered another drink.
ANNA: “Gill, after this one I’m cutting you off.”
GILL: “Ah, come on barkeep! I’ve got another story for you, better than all the other ones, swear. You’ll want to make me another and one for yourself, after you hear it.”
ANNA: “I have one already.”
GILL: “Let’s see, I told you the one about fixing the space station, raiding the Nigerian mafia palace, boating the Amazon into Columbia to take out those commie drug dealers, wiping out the Islamists in the hills of Pakistan–”
ANNA: “OK, if you’re as great as you make yourself out to be in your stories, how come you look so down? No offense, but you look like a bum.”
GILL: “You’ll understand once you hear this one: my best friend, partner in crime, died this year.”
ANNA: “I’m sorry to hear that.”
GILL: “It was that last flu epidemic. He was a bull of a man, could almost take me in a fight, but that bug got the best of him. Wasted away with an IV in his arm. He would tear it out whenever he came to.”
Gill finished his drink with a gulp.
ANNA: “Damn.”
GILL: “Don’t you damn him!”
ANNA: “Sorry.”
GILL: “Yeah, right. How’s about that next one?”
Anna motioned over to the doorman.
ANNA: “I think we have someone for the man upstairs.”
GILL: “You mean Noah?”
ANNA: “Yes. This is The Ark, after all. You know him?”
GILL: “If he’s the same Noah I think he is, who hasn’t? He’s a legend.”
ANNA: “Now I’m not so sure I want to send you up there. I thought he could ease your misery with his.”
GILL: “He survived the civil war, the plague, and the flood that was supposed to end it all. Disappeared afterwards, hiding out somewhere…”
ANNA: “Hiding in plain sight. Sounds like you’ve sobered up enough. Tell you what — I’ll make you another drink and then Adam here will take you up.”
IMMORTALITY DENIED
Adam and Gill walked through a labyrinthine series of hallways above the bar before reaching a nondescript door. Adam opened the door and pushed Gill through.
NOAH: “Who is this cretin?”
ADAM: “Calls himself Gill. Been telling Anna some stories. Seems to know who you are.”
NOAH: “And would I know who you are Gill?”
GILL: “Well, sir, I am also known as G.I. Bill and my last name is Gamesh.”
NOAH: “I suspected as much. Nice to meet you.”
They shook hands over Noah’s desk.
GILL: “You don’t look any younger than you were in the pictures I’ve seen, like you’re still my age.”
NOAH: “True. And I suppose you came to find out how? To find out if the rumors are true?”
GILL: “Right. My friend, you might know him as The Kid, died of that last flu. I’ve killed scores of people but his death scared me. I don’t want to die like that.”
NOAH: “I heard he was a great man. I’m sorry for your loss.”
GILL: “Well, thank you.”
Gill finished his drink.
GILL: “So you think you could help me out with this whole not dying thing?”
Noah laughed.
NOAH: “Let me tell you what I had to endure to earn this life extension. You may have heard or suspected. I engineered the dam break at Three Gorges that ended the chaos. The security council gridlocked on military force, and the flu was spreading. A flood seemed the best option.”
GILL: “Not to the Chinese.”
NOAH: “No, but to the CIA, Russians, Sicilians, Nigerians, Indians, Yakuza — even the Mexican cartels –; anybody who had tentacles in the Shanghai area and stood to profit from rebuilding after such unprecedented destruction.”
GILL: “A conspiracy from the underworld.”
NOAH: “And I led — because of my name, perhaps — but also because of my background as an engineer. We’re both engineers gone bad.”
GILL: “I never thought to question Uncle Sam’s morality until recently. I’m just Special Forces.”
NOAH: “A bit beyond that from what I’ve heard. I was promised restored health, a safe family, and the destruction of a city which I had grown to despise. Seemed righteous enough to me.”
GILL: “Your family?”
NOAH: “My son, with me to help manage the detonations, survived. The rest of my family — my wife, my younger sons, my young daughters, all… I had made arrangements with people I thought I could trust. In the aftermath–”
GILL: “I’m sorry. Anna told me you could relate– I didn’t realize.”
NOAH: “The Americans were apologetic. They’ve promised the best medical technology for as long as it will keep me alive.”
GILL: “So you have immortality.”
NOAH: “I do not derive much comfort from my situation.”
Gill looked to Noah for an answer and found only a brooding visage.
NOAH: “Acquire great wealth, take care of your body, and procreate. Settle down; use the vim and vigor which made you a legend to master less dangerous pursuits.”
GILL: “Sounds boring.”
NOAH: “I have given you the secret to immortality. Do these things, and you will not fear death. Adam, take care of him, please. Excellent to meet, you, famous Gill.”
