The Lord of Opium(56)

“We’ve got to take Mirasol to the hospital,” said Listen. “She didn’t even move when he put those tacks in. She didn’t cry or anything, but it’s got to hurt.”

Matt blinked at her. The Bug was still under the bed, screaming.

“Mr. Patrón? Are you awake?”

“Yes,” Matt said dully.

“You can order the eejits to carry Mirasol to the hospital. I can’t,” said the little girl. “I tried.”

At last Matt responded. “Did Dr. Rivas come here?” he asked.

“He dropped the Bug off and left.”

The Bug is the wrong one to kill, thought Matt. Dr. Rivas is the one who knew what would happen. But he couldn’t unleash Cienfuegos on the doctor. He needed him to train the new physicians and nurses. It was another compromise in the battle to save the eejits, like shooting down an aircraft to avert a war. As Dr. Rivas said, you could get used to being evil. Matt got up and gave the orders to the eejits.





23





THE RUINS OF TUCSON




The new hovercraft was large enough to carry cages of owls as well as Matt, Mirasol, and Listen. Listen planted herself sulkily next to the owls, who watched her with round yellow eyes. She had thrown an unholy fit when informed she was to go to Ajo, and it had taken two eejits to subdue her. Only Dr. Rivas’s command to obey the patrón had made any impression on her. And Matt’s promise to send her back later.

Matt had said nothing to Dr. Rivas about Mirasol. What was the point? The girl hadn’t minded the tacks, and her injuries had been slight. A disinfectant spray, an injection of vitamins, and a few crème caramel custards had put everything right.

Cienfuegos climbed into the pilot’s seat. “You didn’t see much on your way here, mi patrón. Now you can get a better idea of your country.”

They flew down the valley and over the huge observatory. Sunlight glinted off the two telescopes, and soon they were traveling north to go around the mountains. “I could fly over them, but there are dangerous downdrafts in the canyons,” said the jefe.

Matt looked out the window, entranced. The other times he’d been in hovercrafts, he’d been either sick or scared. Now he watched the landscape unroll beneath him. Here and there were the ruins of abandoned houses or the sketchy marks of agriculture gone back to the wild. After a while he saw a large town that had been deserted. “That’s Willcox,” said Cienfuegos.

“Where did the people go?” Matt wondered.

“When the Dope Confederacy was established, people were moved either to the United States or Aztlán,” the jefe explained. “It wasn’t a peaceful transition. Thousands died in the conflict.”

“¡Por Dios!” exclaimed Matt. “Why did the governments allow that?”

“The governments had no control. Drug lords battled homeowners; homeowners fought back. The armies of Aztlán and the United States moved inhabitants who cooperated, but the system broke down in many places. It was a bloody time.”

“Was it worth it?”

“For the drug lords, very much so,” said Cienfuegos. “As for Aztlán and the United States, they experienced a few drug-free years. In the long run, who can say whether it was worth it? Allowing Opium to return to the wild preserved the ecosystem. Throughout history there have been disasters that have had beneficial results. Bubonic plague killed a third of the people in Europe, but it destroyed the old governments and allowed their citizens to gain freedom. The result was a burst of creativity and prosperity never seen before.”

“Dr. Rivas has a supply of plague germs frozen in his fridge,” Listen revealed, having gotten over her tantrum. “He’s got smallpox and cholera, too. He spanked me hard when I opened the door.”

“Now I know he’s one of the villains. Show me which fridge the next time we go to Paradise and I’ll blowtorch it,” said Cienfuegos. She stuck her tongue out at him.

They flew over another deserted town called Benson. It was crossed by a meandering stream that sparkled in the light. “That’s the San Pedro River,” said the jefe. “Not long ago it was dry, but with the people gone, the water isn’t being sucked away.” Cottonwoods filled the river valley, and the ground was covered in tall grass. Suddenly, a large catlike creature emerged from the grass and bent down to drink from the stream. It was followed by four adults and four cubs.

“That’s a lion!” cried Matt.

“Well, what do you know? They’ve spread from Tucson,” Cienfuegos said, pleased.

“Lions don’t live here!”